guest post by Wyndsor Pool
Have you ever been stuck in a season of battling your own thoughts? Sadie Robertson once said, “There’s a direct link between the way you think today and the person you’ll become tomorrow.” Some days the whispers of insecurity threaten to take you over and make you forget the truth, the lies scream so loud and on occasions, you get so tired of fighting that you give in.
This reality of fighting our thoughts reveals a complex truth.
When it comes to changing our thought process, sometimes we neglect actually fighting to redirect it and just give into how it is. Maybe it’s because we’re so used to it that we have come to a place of acceptance—and ultimately surrender. Or maybe it’s because we don’t realize we’re under attack. But from the Bible we can see that the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). He told Adam and Eve lies in the Garden to plant doubt (Genesis 2). He even twisted the truth to attack Jesus when tempting Him (Matthew 4). I think a lot of times we picture the devil shouting when his best method is whispering. He slips in, using everyday and normal circumstances to lie to us. Similarly, he twists the truth to turn it into a lie.
1 Peter 5:8 makes it very clear: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” We must watch out because the temptation to give into the lies circling our head and the one who places them there slips in at the most random times. Thankfully, we have Scripture to use to fight against attack.
2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us what we must do when facing falsehood of any kind: “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.”
When we see lies, we replace them with the truth. We take captive every thought and we make sure it aligns with what’s true, what Scripture says.
Have you ever heard the saying “your worldview determines how you live”? Another term for worldview is our belief system, which means what we believe—whether false or truth—influences how we live. How we view the world and how we view ourselves affects how we handle the things that come our way. For example, people who view the world in a negative light struggle more when suffering comes than people with positive and grateful attitudes who experience the same kind of suffering.
It’s all in the thought process.
But I know you’re probably thinking, “Well, yeah, this is all great, but what do I actually do to fix my thought patterns?”
Glad you asked! Here are three points of advice:
- When a negative thought pops into your head, take it to Scripture. Don’t avoid it, yet don’t dwell on it, because while avoidance doesn’t always fix the problem, neither does dwelling! Most likely, the negative thought is a lie, and when we’re hearing those lies, the only way we can silence them is by finding the truth and repeating it over those lies so our minds do not succumb to falsehood. We must evaluate all of our beliefs to check if they align with the truth.
- Try being more grateful. Yes, I can practically hear you groaning, and this is also an area I need work in. A lot of us can probably agree that in any circumstance our mind usually goes to the negative versus the positive. As we refine our thought patterns with gratitude versus negativity, though, the negative thoughts and lies will likely flee.
- Find people to speak truth into your life. Sometimes we’re blinded to the lies by the lies we’re already believing, and getting a fresh perspective can help us break free.
In summary, we can replace negative thoughts with gratitude, replace lies with the truth by taking them to Scripture—versus brushing them off—and we can identify the lies by getting the perspective of others.
When our thoughts keep feeding us lies, the only way we can defeat them is by combatting them with God’s word and making them obedient to His truth.
As Proverbs 4:23 commands, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Our thought process determines who we become and how we live. As an example from my life, for a long time, I believed people didn’t like me, and therefore I became closed off to connections with others. That lie then seemed true because as I was semi-closing myself off, I’m sure people weren’t as interested in approaching me because closed-off people seem like they don’t want connection!
Are the lies you’ve submitted to causing you to live a different picture than what you dream you could be? The truth is, you can be confident, you can not care what others think, you can not be afraid, but you’re still going to have to fight the lies. “Good things don’t come for free” is a common saying that I believe applies here.
I think the biggest thing that cripples us from fighting lies is forgetting that they are lies. They aren’t true.
“But why do I feel like they are?” Feelings are flawed—God’s word isn’t. So check every feeling and every hunch with Scripture before you allow it to dictate the way you live!
Untrue thoughts trap us from being the fullest version of ourselves that we were created to be … so what’s one lie you’re believing? Revealing that it’s a lie is one step closer to being the person you dream of—the person the Lord has created you to be.
Do you want to be whole? Do you want to have authority over the lies in your head? Then take up all the armor of God, including His word, which is an active weapon to fight the Enemy, and walk in a manner worthy of your calling (Ephesians 4:1-3). You aren’t called to be yoked to fear and trapped in the lies you’ve believed. So stop submitting, and start putting up the fight! Stop allowing lies to limit your potential. Fear is false, so why do we treat it like it’s real?
In conclusion, consider this commonly used phrase, “If the devil can confuse your identity, he can mess up your destiny!” So reclaim your identity and destiny in Christ and lean on Him to help you fight the lies.
Wyndsor Pool is a passionate writer and Jesus follower living in Georgia.
When not writing, she can be found playing the piano, hanging out with friends and siblings, or curled up in a cozy chair, sipping iced coffee and devouring a good book. Wyndsor’s ultimate mission is to share the love of God and reveal truth and hope through her writing. Her writing can be found in a few places, including 40 day Devotionals for teen girls – a collaborative devotional book by teens for teens: Teen to Teen – DEVO FOR TEENS.
Leave a Reply