Talk to Yourself More

My goal for the Escalate blog is to primarily publish my own thoughts and ideas. And yet I am humble enough to admit that there is a vast multitude of men and women whose thoughts and ideas are far more valuable and profitable than my own. With that in mind, I may occasionally post someone else's thoughts, especially if I have found them to be profitable to my own edification. That way you can get an idea of some of the insights that are helping to shape and mold me, and hopefully be encouraged and shaped by them yourself. The following passage is from a book I recently finished by C.J. Mahaney called Humility: True Greatness.

"This is simply a strategy for taking control of the thoughts we allow in our mind. In his excellent book Spiritual Depression, Martin Lloyd-Jones asked, 'Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?' That's profound, and it's true.
Take a moment to review and examine your pattern of thinking from yesterday. Did you spend more time speaking truth to yourself, or was most of your time spent listening to yourself? Most of us spend more time listening to lies than we do speaking truth to ourselves. And the listening process usually starts as soon as we get up. The alarm has rudely interrupted the gift of sleep, and the listening begins. As we stumble through our morning routine, we're not directing the thoughts in our mind - we're simply at their mercy. We entertain complaints about what happened yesterday or worries about what's coming today. We look in the bathroom mirror and assess the damage, then brood over how we feel. We're not in charge of our thinking. We're just there."
- Mahaney, C.J. Humility: True Greatness. (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2005) pgs. 69-70.

Does C.J. hit the nail on the head, or what? How often is Satan actively whispering lies to us while we sit passively by and listen? It's time we start recognizing how harmful those thoughts can be and stop listening to ourselves.

When Satan whispers, "No one cares about you," are you listening? If you listen to that your thoughts will continue down the wrong path. You'll start thinking to yourself, "Maybe that's true. My family members are disinterested and aren't supportive of what I do; my friends don't ever call me, I always have to call them. In fact I can't think of anyone who sincerely cares." When you hear those thoughts you have to stop listening and start speaking truth. Tell yourself, "God cares for me. In fact He loves me so much He sent His Son to die on my behalf, to redeem me and to reconcile me to Himself. I am loved! I am cared for! Scripture cannot speak more clearly on this matter."
When Satan whispers, "You aren't valuable and you'll never do anything of worth," stop listening. Speak truth to yourself instead. Remind yourself that your value isn't determined by what you accomplish today, this week, or throughout the course of your life. Your value is determined by who you are in Christ! In Christ, I am a child of the King, and a co-heir with Christ. I am valuable not because of who I am, but because of whose I am!
When Satan whispers, "You would be happier if you would commit that sin," stop listening. Remind yourself that although you may think there is temporary pleasure in participating in that sin, it will never truly satisfy you. Truth says that only Jesus can satisfy us. Scripture says we have been set free from the captivity and power of sin, which really only condemns and separates us from God. Growing in and walking in Christ is what brings the greatest joy and pleasure."

We can no longer accept the practice of sitting idly by and listening to the thoughts that fill our hearts and mind. Instead we need to actively be speaking truth to ourselves to make sure our minds are fixed on truth and not led astray by Satan's deceptions. I hope this will encourage you to start giving more consideration to your thoughts and help you to be more active in talking to yourself throughout each day.