Positive Thoughts Make Positive Actions

My dear sister and I were talking on the phone this morning and sharing negative thoughts we’ve had about ourselves lately. As we took turns crying into each others ear, she made a profound statement, “The thoughts we fill our heads with is what we will believe about ourselves.” A light bulb switched on for me at that moment. She was right, if we continually fill our heads with trash and false information, that is who we will believe to be.

We hear constantly that we are daughters of the Most High, we were created in His image, and we are perfect in God’s eyes. We hear all these truths about ourselves, but do we believe them? 1 Peter 2:1 says, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander of every kind.” How many times are you deceived by your own thoughts, or you are being hypocritical from what you say aloud to what you have in your head, or you tell yourself false information? Unfortunately, it’s probably more than we like to admit.

What if we chose to wake up each morning and instead of putting negative thoughts in our heads as we look in the mirror, we put positive truths in them? We can have mantras such as, “You are good enough”, “All my accomplishments are for God’s glory not my own achievement”, “God loves me no matter what”, or “I live for God’s heavenly kingdom, not this worldly kingdom”. Instead of getting caught up in the negative thoughts, we train our minds to come back to who God made us to be. We train our eyes to not look at the world, but to look at God.

1 Peter 2 goes on to say that we are like newborn babies who crave their mother’s milk. We crave this milk and nourishment because we were created to yearn for God’s goodness, love and compassion. We were not created to flourish from the lies of the enemy. When we get caught up in the lies that are tangled in our heads, we feel defeated, worthless, and scared. We have no peace in our lives because our thoughts are not of God. Verse 3 tells us we yearn for more of God’s truths because we have tasted His goodness. Picture your favorite meal, mine is my husband’s beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and green beans. When you’ve tasted the best, you crave more of it. You wish for it every day. God’s goodness is the best we will ever receive, so of course it makes sense for us to yearn for that nourishment that is found in His truth and Word. We crave it so that we will grow in our salvation. We can grow closer to Him.

The lies we tell ourselves only separate us from Him and His goodness. I encourage you to ask God to give you something positive to tell yourself each morning. Fill your head with goodness instead of discouraging lies. What you tell yourself is how you will see yourself. We want to see ourselves the way God sees us, not how the world wants us to feel.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”—2 Corinthians 10:5

“Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things (center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart).”—Philippians 4:8 AMP

Digging Deeper:

What lies fill your head and hold you captive?

What truths can you replace them with?

Now, pray daily that God will free you from those negative thoughts and that you will be filled with peace that only He can give.