The Battle Begins in Your Mind
Just like any other day, I woke up, said my prayers and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Like any other day, I began to scroll through my mental to-do list and familiar thoughts and feelings of inadequacy, fear and doubt began to creep up.
Thoughts like, “How are you possibly going to get that project done at work?” “Who is going to actually listen to you?” “You’re not smart enough to run your own business or even help people.” Harsh, I know… They say we are our own worst critics. I have been the poster child of that statement for as long as I can remember. Until something happened.
I have an image of the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) on my bathroom wall. I happened to look at it while the reel of self-sabotaging thoughts was in full force. Then all of a sudden, the thought came to me, “Is that how Mary or even Joseph would speak to themselves?” I immediately laughed at the absurdity of it. “Of course not,” I responded to myself.
Then the subsequent thought, stopped me in my tracks, “Then why are you thinking thoughts that they wouldn’t or Christ wouldn’t?” If I’m seeking to imitate Jesus Christ in all that I do, why wouldn’t I seek to imitate how He thinks as well as those in His family? It was a sobering thought.
I later picked up a book I had read many years ago and began re-reading it, hungry for help. The book, “The 4:8 Principle,” by Tom Newberry, centers around Philippians 4:8:
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things.”
Newberry is passionate about helping believers take control of their minds and bring every thought captive to Christ. Two sentences from this book have reverberated in my soul since I read them:
“Think the thoughts you would think if you trusted God’s promises completely. Make the shift from random, reactive thinking to deliberate, purpose-driven thinking” (pg. 12).
Well here goes Mr. Newberry:
I am a beautiful and beloved daughter of God.
I am intelligent and my heavenly father is so proud of me!
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
I am creative.
I have family and friends who love and want the best for me.
I am loved.
I am good.
I am kind.
I am humble.
My business will be successful in Jesus’ name and will help and bless many women.
What is your list of God-given truths and declarations about yourself?
Submit them below and I’ll publish them in a future blog post!