Worthless, Lazy, Inept, Dork – those are harsh words, aren’t they? They are especially harsh when you consider they were the words I spoke to myself on a daily basis. I not only called myself by those horrible adjectives (plus many more that out of grace, I won’t post here), I also built a case to support the legitimacy of each of them. I was the BEST attorney around for building a case of HATE against myself. Then, God spoke to my heart and told me I needed to renew my mind with His thoughts about me and that it would completely transform my life. He did NOT disappoint!

Romans 12:2 Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I desperately needed my mind to be transformed. 35 years of calling myself those hurtful words had convinced me that I was indeed completely worthless and that I could never be worthy of God’s love or, for that matter, worthy of anyone’s love.

In addition, feeling worthless and stewing in those feelings became a self-fulfilling prophecy for me. By that I mean that I felt worthless and fully expected and assumed others saw me that way as well. It is difficult to accept someone’s love when you assume they think you are worthless. Sure, there would be a bright light occasionally, but as quickly as the light came, I would let the words of darkness back in to extinguish the light.

It wasn’t until God showed me I needed to focus on my thoughts that I started to realize how much they affected my life. He started by directing me to co-lead a Women’s Bible Study at my church. It was called Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild and I highly recommend it to anyone struggling with their thought life.

The study focuses on cleaning out your “thought closet” and replacing the negative thoughts (lies) you have told yourself with God’s positive truth about you. In so doing, you will live out the bible verse above, you will indeed be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind.

I am living proof of that transformation and believe that part of God’s will for my life is for me to share my journey of healing with others so they can experience it as well. To be clear, my transformation did not take place overnight,
in fact, it took YEARS for me to transform my thinking. Honestly, I sometimes still struggle in that area, especially when I am overtired or not physically feeling well. However, God is in it for the long haul. He hasn’t given up on me and He won’t give up on you either.

Initially, what I had to realize was that I am on a journey and some days will be better than others (which is totally normal). If we expect to have perfection every day of our lives, we are merely setting ourselves up for failure. That
failure, or perceived failure, then fuels the negative thoughts and gives them additional power over our lives.

We are not perfect, nor are we called to be perfect. We are called to be exactly how God made us with all our similarities, differences and especially with our quirks. Accepting that fact and accepting the fact that God Loves Us exactly
the way we are is key to renewing our minds and transforming our lives.

I encourage you to take a close look at what you think about yourself. What are the words you most often use to describe yourself (either out loud or in your mind)? Are they negative words and lies from the enemy or positive words and truths from God? If you are stuck in the cycle of negative self-talk, ask God to help you start renewing your mind. Then, listen to His direction and cooperate with Him as He transforms your life.

I pray you also receive freedom from the lies you have believed for so long. I KNOW it’s possible, because I’m on the other side. God is stronger than any negative thoughts you have and will ALWAYS be by your side to complete the transformation.

Here are few additional Bible Verses full of God’s Truth about YOU:

Psalm 139:14 I will give thanks to you (God), for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I John 4: 19 We love because He first loved us.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.