Talk To Yourself

“Talk to yourself, don’t let yourself talk to you.” That is the phrase that stood out to me in the sermon on Sunday (https://thecreekonline.net/media) There are so many Bible verses that back this up that you can’t blow it off as some psychological mumbo-jumbo. The mind is a powerful thing and can hijack your world at any given moment by sowing seeds of doubt or jealousy or envy or self-deprecation. It can make the victor feel like the victim. It can make the strong feel weak and the weak feel strong.  

In Psalm 42 we find a series of woes, crying out to God, including...

“My tears have been my food day and night...”

That is a pitiful, sorrowful thought. He is hungering for the joy that God can restore to him, remembering better days when God was obviously by his side. The psalmist is contrasting those days to the present when people are mocking God because of his current state.

“while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Then comes the self talk…

 “Why my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? 

Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him…”

Perhaps his situation was truly bleak, but as soon as he finished his lament, crying out to God for aid, he immediately recognized truth and had a little talk with himself. “Why are you letting this negativity and pity party go on when all you have to do is open your eyes and see that God is sovereign and will rescue you in His time? Why are you whining about things not going your way; things not being fair; life being difficult? You know truth, so why fall for the lies of Satan that destroy you. Instead, praise God for who He is and what you have seen Him do in the past. Remember with gratitude all He has brought you through…then you will see Him as your all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful God. Then your hope will win out over your fear. Then you can be the victor rather than the victim.

Do you ever feel yourself falling into a hole and knowing that if you don’t act fast you will be clear at the bottom without the strength to crawl back out? I think everyone hears that negative voice that causes them to have a “woe is me” attitude and feel like the world is ganging up on them unjustly. Or maybe it is your parent or child or spouse or ex or boss or neighbor or co-worker that is tearing you down. Or are they? Do they have that power? Only when you give it to them. “Talk to yourself, don’t let yourself talk to you.” Stop the downward spiral by reminding yourself that “you are God’s masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10) created for a purpose, and you must “allow God to transform you by changing the way you think” (Romans 12:2).

The mind is a powerful thing. When you allow it to tell you lies or exaggerate the truth or meddle with your identity in Jesus, you must quickly ask God to meet your needs, to fill your hunger with His truth and meditate on the reality of who He is and the power that is at your disposal to stand against the negativity that is trying to blossom within your heart and mind. Talk to yourself and speak the truth that God gives you when you go to Him with your brokenness. It will change your attitude, change your day, change your life and it will change the atmosphere in your home.