3 Simple Steps to Banish Negative Self-Talk & Change Your Life

 

 Let's be real for a minute. We are our own worst and harshest critic. No enemy, no coworker with a grudge, nobody is more in tune with, and therefore more aware of our failures and our faults than ourselves. So it stands to reason that we are the most well equipped to be the ultimate judge of our worth. Where many of us run into trouble is in that we focus in on the things we don't like, the failures, the faults, the finite things that no one else sees or remembers. That no one else cares nearly as much about as we might think. It is possible to change it. There are a variety of ways, just as there are a variety of ways to do most things. For me, because of my faith, I choose to approach changing my perspective through the lens of what God says first. 

Psalm 113:17 says: How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

Romans 5:8 says: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Matthew 10:31 chides: So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

  These verses tell us much about our worth. Firstly, that the ruler of the universe thinks of us constantly. We are worth enough to Him to be in His every thought. Secondly, we are reminded that He chose the most worthy possession He had, His only Son, as the sacrifice for us. Yes, Christ rose again as They knew He would. But just to watch that unfold, no matter how omnipotent, had to be an eviscerating feeling. Lastly, we are told not to fear because our value is above the creatures of the air, some of the first animals He created when He put the world into place.

 Those are the verses that speak to me as I consider my worth. The ones that speak to you may well be very different. The key, or the first step, is to find the ones that speak to you. Pray about them, meditate on them, pray them back to God. Hold them in your heart and use them to reassure yourself when the negative talk starts.

 The Second Step, for me, is to recognize my power against the schemes of the enemy, of which negative self-talk is one of the most frequently used. If he can get into our head and cause us to doubt ourselves, and doubt God, the enemy can block us from our power and from the blessings God has for us. But He has given us the power to defeat the enemy through His blood.

1 John 5:4 declares  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 

Luke 10:17-20 is a lesson from the words of Christ himself. " 17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”  

 In this section, the disciples are in awe of their ability to cast out and call out demons. Jesus is explaining this power to them. This same power rests in us as well. 

Colossians 2:14-15 gives us a reminder of how and what Christ did for us when it comes to battling the enemy. "14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross."

 The third and final step when I am doing battle against the negative self talk is perhaps the hardest. It is to train my mind to hold the things I learned and meditated on above in the forefront of my mind at all times. I memorized verses as a child, as many do. And as I grew up they faded in the back as new information and memories were added. I became, as many do, jaded and somewhat self-involved. I am after all human, and we tend to want to fix things ourselves, even when we know there is another way. So many years I spent trying to stop the negative self talk, and the negative things said of and over me by others. I did all the things we are taught to do for mental health, and they would work, for a little while. But the enemy is a fighter and he has been at this centuries longer than we have. He adapts quickly and comes at us from a different angle if we defeat one. The one he can't defeat, our value in Christ? He tries to deflect by keeping us so busy with the negatives in life that we don't have time to think of what God's Word says.

Our victory is already secure, but it is up to us to bear that in mind. It is up to us to continually commit the Words of victory and the message of hope to our hearts. That's how we win, by having the words and the faith to call it what it is when it happens, to denounce it and order it away from us. To speak aloud the words to cast the devil from us, and replace his negativity and painful things with the positive, life-affirming, power-giving words of God. 

I want to know, how do you handle the negativity? What verses speak to you? Let me know in the comments.