Battling Negative Self-Talk
Andrea Merrill / Worship Arts Director
“Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.” Philippians 4:8
Continuing to watch, we discover that what we are hearing is actually self-talk. The words we thought were being spoken to someone else are actually what the women were saying to themselves, and sadly there’s a lot of truth in THAT scenario. I’ve battled this myself to a higher degree than usual in the last few months. I see all of the places that I don’t measure up to my own expectations. I see every failure and amplify it, and I’ve felt like a big disappointment to God and to important people in my life.
 |
| Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash |
“Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.” Philippians 4:8
There was a commercial that came out a few years ago - it may have been from a skincare company or something – and in it a group of women were in a room seeming to have conversations with each other that involved demeaning the other women in the room. We, the viewers, heard these conversations and were shocked that anyone would say the terrible things that we were hearing to another person. These women were brutally pointing out every flaw, every imperfection, and tearing down the ladies to a degree that I couldn’t imagine happening in real life! I remember having an appalled emotional reaction to it!
Continuing to watch, we discover that what we are hearing is actually self-talk. The words we thought were being spoken to someone else are actually what the women were saying to themselves, and sadly there’s a lot of truth in THAT scenario. I’ve battled this myself to a higher degree than usual in the last few months. I see all of the places that I don’t measure up to my own expectations. I see every failure and amplify it, and I’ve felt like a big disappointment to God and to important people in my life.
I don’t think I’m alone in this kind of destructive thinking, but I was willing to accept it for a while because I started to believe that what I was telling myself was true. Satan was beginning to win a little battle in my head, and it was keeping me from walking confidently in some of the things I was made to do! It finally hit me last week that THIS was not ok, and that these internal negative conversations were not coming from God.
Last week I came upon the theme verse for this blog post. I’ve read it a million times before, but this time it glowed in big letters on the page for me, and God opened my eyes to what I’d been doing to myself. “Self-talk” is such a cultural buzzword. We hear about being kind to ourselves and speaking “positivity”, but it turns out God has always been ahead of this concept. He knew we would need the reminder to keep our minds on the good, the true and the beautiful in order to starve out the negative self-talk, paralysis and sometimes depression that can follow. God showed me that this mindset shift takes intentionality. I have to actively CHOOSE to think about the good, and to praise Him for the things He has already given me!
Last week I came upon the theme verse for this blog post. I’ve read it a million times before, but this time it glowed in big letters on the page for me, and God opened my eyes to what I’d been doing to myself. “Self-talk” is such a cultural buzzword. We hear about being kind to ourselves and speaking “positivity”, but it turns out God has always been ahead of this concept. He knew we would need the reminder to keep our minds on the good, the true and the beautiful in order to starve out the negative self-talk, paralysis and sometimes depression that can follow. God showed me that this mindset shift takes intentionality. I have to actively CHOOSE to think about the good, and to praise Him for the things He has already given me!
As of a few days ago, I’m happy to say that I got started. As I walked into work that morning, rather than focusing on some of the meetings and tasks and rehearsals that I knew were in front of me and felt overwhelming, I spent my little trek to the front door thanking God for the wisdom He was going to give me that day. I thanked Him for the creativity He was allotting me, for the discernment to make decisions, and for the organization and clarity to move forward on big projects. I started my day by thanking Him for what I knew He would give me, and that completely shifted my mindset. I headed into the day not defeated before I even got started, but excited to see how God would come through. I felt empowered to move ahead on tasks I had been holding off on out of fear of my inadequacies to accomplish them.
While I don’t blame Satan for all of the things I battle, I do know that Satan tends to find our weak points and push at them until we give in and crumble. In this season of momentum and forward movement at Eastern Hills Church, every single person is important to accomplishing what God is calling us to do in our community and the world! We all have resources and gifts to bring to the table, but when we start doubting that what we have to offer is good enough, Satan may very well come in and push that button so that we never step into the game. I’m taping this theme verse to my desk at work and in my car, and I plan to intentionally do what it says so that God can use me to do what He has planned!
While I don’t blame Satan for all of the things I battle, I do know that Satan tends to find our weak points and push at them until we give in and crumble. In this season of momentum and forward movement at Eastern Hills Church, every single person is important to accomplishing what God is calling us to do in our community and the world! We all have resources and gifts to bring to the table, but when we start doubting that what we have to offer is good enough, Satan may very well come in and push that button so that we never step into the game. I’m taping this theme verse to my desk at work and in my car, and I plan to intentionally do what it says so that God can use me to do what He has planned!