It never ceases to baffle me what comes out of my mouth. As much as I try to offer words of kindness, encouragement and attempt in glorifying God, do I find the opposite tumbling out.
Needless to say, there are those pet peeves that hang everyone of us up. My recent greatest hits are: Automated Call Systems that take 45 minutes to navigate. I just want to talk to someone and just ONE person! No transfers!!!! Repeating myself is harrowing enough. Another top charter is traffic. Ugh!!!
But what about the other statements? The ones of fear, judgement and insecurity, which slyly roll out and go without recognition of what they really mean? Do we weigh those as a sign of what is going on internally? Or do we pass those off?
If we catch what we say and assess what it is rooted in, then we can evaluate how it is affecting us.
Is the statement rooted out of fear and thus indicative that the fear is ruling us?
Is the statement a judging statement where our inner judge is controlling us in unhealthy ways?
Or is the statement beguiled in insecurity showing us that we really aren't comfortable in ourselves?
Is the statement rooted out of fear and thus indicative that the fear is ruling us?
Is the statement a judging statement where our inner judge is controlling us in unhealthy ways?
Or is the statement beguiled in insecurity showing us that we really aren't comfortable in ourselves?
It's no wonder the Scripture says: "For what the mouth speaks, the heart is full of," (Luke 6:45).
It's taken me a while to get to the place where I can objectively look at the statements coming out of my mouth and do a quick deep dive to accept: Yes, this is where _______ is coming from.
But after that, I take the thought and hold it captive to Christ. In other words, after I catch my phrase, assess it's rooting, then evaluate it's affect, I ask another question. "What would Christ say about it?"
"We take captive every though to make it obedient to Christ," (2 Cor. 10:5).
"We take captive every though to make it obedient to Christ," (2 Cor. 10:5).
We can capture our thoughts, our words, our statements and line them up against the truth of the word. Thus, if they line up, we can reason that they'd be correct. On the counter, if they don't line up, then we'd stand to say they need an adjustment to be realigned.
On a very general level, let's take some examples and give this process a whirl:
On a very general level, let's take some examples and give this process a whirl:
So a statement that oozes of fear I ooze back with:
"Perfect love casts out fear," (1 John 4:18).
"Perfect love casts out fear," (1 John 4:18).
Fear is not from God.
Thus, I am able to overrule the fear and reword the statement.
A statement where my inner judge is out of whack, I can stand on:
"There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus," (Rom. 8:1).
I can reword my statement with measures of grace instead of criticism.
"There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus," (Rom. 8:1).
I can reword my statement with measures of grace instead of criticism.
With a statement beguiled in insecurity, I can validate myself with approval based Scriptures. Here are a few....
"...approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel," (1 Thes. 2:4).
"...because the Lord was please to make you His own," (1 Sam. 12:22).
"...set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that..." (1 Gal. 1: 15-16).
"I am fearfully and wonderfully made, " (Ps. 139:14).
Course, the rewording process isn't always cut and dry. It isn't always this simple or maybe it is plainly simple. The point is that there is hope; hope to remove the old way and put on a new one, one that leads to grace, truth and freedom.
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come," (2 Cor. 5:17).
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come," (2 Cor. 5:17).
Another thing to consider noticing is that we as humans, especially Type-A'rs, seem to condemn, criticize and control ourselves constantly. Maybe it's our world of perfectionism. Or maybe it's our false sense of pride trying to be the best and then face utter disappointment when we never seem to get there. Unrealistic expectations hang over our heads like the clouds on a rainy day.
But if we exchanged what we said to ourselves:
exchanging the condemnation for grace,
criticism for truth and
freedom for control,
then, we'd constantly be cultivating thoughts of nourishment and health. Ultimately, we'd be living out the way God designed for us.
"...walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will posses," (Deut. 5:33).
Odd that, the idea of a life lived in freedom is exactly opposite of what the world projects Christianity to be. Course, humans have put their own "you can't do this or that" on the lifestyle and have thus convaluded what Christ really preached. And for the record....
He preached about freedom.
He lived out freedom.
He wants freedom for each of us.
He wants freedom for me.
He wants freedom for you.
and how do we know this?
BECAUSE HE DIED FOR OUR FREEDOM.
exchanging the condemnation for grace,
criticism for truth and
freedom for control,
then, we'd constantly be cultivating thoughts of nourishment and health. Ultimately, we'd be living out the way God designed for us.
"...walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will posses," (Deut. 5:33).
Odd that, the idea of a life lived in freedom is exactly opposite of what the world projects Christianity to be. Course, humans have put their own "you can't do this or that" on the lifestyle and have thus convaluded what Christ really preached. And for the record....
He preached about freedom.
He lived out freedom.
He wants freedom for each of us.
He wants freedom for me.
He wants freedom for you.
and how do we know this?
BECAUSE HE DIED FOR OUR FREEDOM.
That's why when I read today's Scripture, I'm invigorated to leave all the muck behind and go. To bask in the sunlight of His grace, where He purposely doesn't look to my own blah, but looks upon me with eyes of love.
And it's when I spend time basking in this sunlight, that I want to catch the words that roll out of my mouth and change them to reflect the One whose Spirit lives in me.
Try this and see for yourself. My wager is that no longer will you be tousled by the hurtful and unsettling way of thinking, but you will feel a sense of restoration and of hope.
Just as the saying goes:
You are what you eat
so is the truth behind the notion:
the words on the outside symbolize what is happening on the inside.
Thus, if we change these words and beliefs, we'll no longer be controled by potentially damaging, derogatory statements which affect every area of our life. Instead, we will be regenerated and restored... our minds will finally find the space to be free.
You are what you eat
so is the truth behind the notion:
the words on the outside symbolize what is happening on the inside.
Thus, if we change these words and beliefs, we'll no longer be controled by potentially damaging, derogatory statements which affect every area of our life. Instead, we will be regenerated and restored... our minds will finally find the space to be free.
"Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me." (Song of Songs 2:10).
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