Self-talk
Lamentations 3:24-25
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him
Whether you know it or not, there is continuous communication inside our heads and hearts. No one talks to you more than you do, so you are the most influential person in your life. The things you say to you about you, God, and life are profoundly important because they form and shape the way you then respond to the environment around you. When your internal conversations are negative and demeaning, your spirit is deflated and demoralized. You are weakened on the inside.
The sad reality is that most people are continually barraging themselves with abusive, destructive self-talk. They are unforgiving, unkind and demanding to themselves. Their worst enemy is their own words. They are taken down by those very things they say to themselves about themselves, about God and about others. They live defeated lives, not realizing that they are sabotaging the changes, victories and breakthroughs they long for by their own internal declarations and proclamations.
Prophet Jeremiah who lived through a very difficult time in Judah’s history experienced much pain over the spiritual condition of God’s people. He had a lot of reasons to get discouraged and even give up. He was denied by God not to marry, denied participation in the ordinary joys and sorrows of his fellowmen and rejected by his very own people as a traitor combined with his agony of observing the idolatry and wickedness of the nation: all these were too much for him. But Jeremiah learned and practiced a spiritual principle that kept him going amidst the horrible and ugly circumstances around him.
In the book of Lamentations 3:21-26 he says: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. AMEN!!
Did you pick out the phrase “I say to myself…?”
Through tough times, Jeremiah monitored his self-talk. He made a conscious decision to say the right things to himself; over and over again he said “The Lord is my portion … “
What about you? Have you monitored your self-talk recently? Are you carrying on conversations with yourself that are sabotaging your spiritual and emotional health? Are you speaking God’s truth to yourself or are you trafficking in lies from your spiritual adversary?
Remember the enemy comes only to steal, kill and destroy. He steals our joy, our peace our inheritance. Thank God for Jesus because He has come so that may have life and have it in abundance. You can choose to have just one reason to be joyful when the world around you is caving in. Make a decision to change your self-talk. Be conscious of what you think. Speak God’s truth to yourself and watch the difference it will make!