I had a pretty good day yesterday. I got papers graded, got some writing done and spent the evening catching up with a dear friend. But when I got home, I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, saw a post (it was not a bad post or anything) but it suddenly made me feel inferior and unloved. Now I had a choice. Do I agree with those feelings or do I agree with what the Father says about me?
99% of our anxiousness and worries are a product of meditating on a lie. (I just made that statistic up but it sounds about right). As I am reading Philippians 4, I realize it’s our thoughts that causes strife amongst each other. It’s our thoughts not our circumstance that produces worry and anxiousness.
I have said before, I refuse to allow fear to dictate my decisions. I think I need to become just as radical about not allowing stinking thinking to dictate my emotions. The Bible instructs us to take captive any thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. So any thought, no matter how real it feels, no matter how logical it seems, that makes me feel inferior, less than, unloved, invaluable, guilty, condemned, stupid, shamed, or unqualified needs to be taken captive immediately and bombarded with truth. What is truth?
God loves me. (It doesn’t matter how anyone else feels about me)
God has qualified me.
I am valuable to God.
My face is never covered with shame
God gives me wisdom.
I’m accepted in the Beloved (it doesn’t matter if others don’t accept me).
I must bombard those lies with these truths. I must choose to live a life free from anxiousness and worries. Because here is a hard truth: No one can make me feel insecure, unloved or guilty without my permission. I must stop allowing permission.
If your thought life has you worried, anxious, or depressed, join me in heeding Paul’s advice:
“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always. Follow the example of all that we have imparted to you and the God of peace will be with you in all things.”
Philippians 4:6-9 TPT