It’s not what others say to you or about you that determines your future; it’s what you say to yourself after others get finished talking! In the Book of Proverbs, it says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
You may say to yourself, “I’d love to win a conference championship, but we’ll never be good enough.” Or on a personal note, “I’d love to start a relationship with her/him, but I’m afraid if I make the first move and they don’t respond I’ll feel rejected.” How about this: “I’d like to get my Masters degree, but I’m afraid if I start and it’s too hard I’ll feel stupid.” Psychologists call these statements self-fulfilling prophesies. Until you replace your negative self-talk with faith-talk, you’ll always live in fear.
Our mind is like the womb of our spirit; it nurtures each seed we sow until the time of delivery. If we don’t want what a seed will ultimately produce, we must stop sowing it and feeding it!
The first step in breaking fear’s hold is recognizing the self-talk that got you into trouble in the first place. This is not easy to do! It takes self-awareness (something that I’ve found that a lot of people lack.) For instance, I finally shared with a friend… I guess he’s an ex-friend now because he did not receive my admonition positively… that he doesn’t realize that his cutting, sarcastic remarks aren’t received in the spirit in which he thinks they’re intended. What he thinks is cute or witty, others take as degrading. He lacks the filter (or self-awareness) to realize how he’s being perceived. So, the next step in breaking fear’s hold is vigilance and discipline. But by changing your thoughts you’ll begin to change your life.
The Book of Job says, “You will…. declare a thing, and it will be established for you.” This is what we call Scriptural “reprogramming.” There is power in the Word of God! You need to feed your soul with a daily dose of Scripture to produce change. The amazing part is, at first you may not feel like you believe the particular Bible verse you’re standing on. That’s ok— your inner self (your soul, if you would) accepts what it’s consistently fed and begins to act accordingly. What’s that old Native American saying: “I have 2 dogs that live within me. One is vicious and one is kind. The one I feed is the one that controls me.”
So, starting today, serve an eviction notice to every negative thought that’s holding you back and begin feeding your mind with God’s Word. It will change your life!
