Have you seen the show "Don't Forget the Lyrics"? I don't know that it's actually on air anymore; funny, it seems to have been forgotten... On the show, contestants competed to see who knew lyrics to popular songs. The competition required no singing talent, but rather the ability to remember and recite songs.
If you were to choose any type of contest, what kind of competition would you be most likely to win?
Maybe it's playing the violin, making friends, diagramming sentences properly, or winning the nice girl award; it doesn't really matter what it is, but we are all good at something! The type of contest you'd be most likely to win signals an area where you feel confident about yourself.
When we're confident, we tend to tell ourselves things like, "I got this. I'm good at this." But in other areas of our lives, particularly areas where we aren't as confident, our self-talk tends to be more negative, spouting phrases like, "I'm such a loser. I'll never get this." When we practice negative self-talk, we tend to only encourage our insecurities to grow and abound.
Stop and think for a minute. What lyrics or self-talk are running through your mind currently? Are they positive words or negative vibes?
Here's the problem with that happens when we continually practice negative self-talk, we develop a process of negativity:
Step 1: Your self-talk conflicts with what God says. Your talk is full of negativity and lies.
Step 2: You believe your self-talk.
Step 3: Because you believe your negative and false self-talk, you think you have to hide the parts you feel ashamed of, so you hide your true self.
Step 4: You become increasingly fake.
Remember, the whole point of this journey together is that we would continue to become more and more REAL, not more and more fake. If you're stuck in a web of lies, don't worry, you're not alone. Let's work together to get through it and start talking positively to ourselves. Let's take a look at how we can rewire our negative self-talk.
Philippians 4:8 offers advice for our thinking: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
God doesn't desire for us to practice negative self-talk or dwell in insecurities. He wants us to Let's take a closer look at each of these qualities.
-Whatever is TRUE.
Telling yourself what is true means that you tell yourself what God says about you and not what others say. John 8:32 says, "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."
-Whatever is NOBLE.
No matter how unworthy you feel, God's love for you cannot and will not ever change.
Isaiah 54:10 tells us, "'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you."
-Whatever is RIGHT.
Even when people around you mistreat you and do wrong by you, God promises to take care of you.
Psalm 27:10 declares, "Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me."
-Whatever is PURE.
No matter what you've ever done, you are never beyond the reach of God's cleansing power.
Ephesians 1:4 assures us, "Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault--we who stand before him covered with his love."
-Whatever is LOVELY.
God wants to replace your injured, broken or ugly places with beauty.
Psalm 34:5 says, "Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame."
-Whatever is ADMIRABLE.
God gives you the power to do things you might not feel capable of accomplishing on your own.
Philippians 4:13 declares, "I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me--I am ready for anything and equal to anything through him who infuses inner strength into me, that is, I am self-sufficient in Christi's sufficiency." (AMP version)
-If anything is EXCELLENT.
Go's love and care for you proves your level of excellence in His eyes.
Luke 12:24 informs us: "Look at the ravens--they don't plant or harvest or have barns to store away their food, and yet they get along all right--for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds!"
-Or PRAISEWORTHY.
God made us acceptable, which results in praise to Him.
Ephesians 1:6 says, "To the praise of his glorious grace, by which he has made us accepted in the Beloved."
So what do you think, girls? How do your thoughts compare to God's thoughts? Take some time this week to examine your thoughts before the Lord. Ask for His help in aligning your thinking with His.
Choose one of these characteristics to work on this week. Write a note to yourself and stick it on your bathroom mirror, remind you to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.
Be encouraged and know that God thinks the world of you and treasures you just as you are!
