Don’t believe everything you think… Part 2

Do you think about what you think about? I hope so, because it is the most effective way to change your outlook on life and bring more joy and happiness to every single day! This is Part 2 of a thought inspection process called: “Don’t believe everything you think” to read Part 1 click here.

Last time we were together I encouraged you to inspect your thoughts. I am curious….did you? If so, what did you learn about the way you think/talk to yourself? For me, that practice was the beginning of the end of my old life. When I was able to recognize my thoughts and learned how to discern where those thoughts came from, I was able to begin to take control of them. Taking control of them meant taking each thought captive and inspecting it, then deciding to keep it or toss it out.

The second part of this process, for me, was to think about what I thought other people thought about me. Whew – that was confusing! Let me clarify what I mean by that. Once I started inspecting my own thoughts, I was able to trace where those thoughts came from. Some of the thoughts were straight up from the enemy of my soul, without foundation and without a human source. On the flip side, I discovered that some of my thoughts were founded in something that someone said to me at one time in my life. I discovered that unbeknownst to me I had taken what that person said to me and accepted it as truth. Then, I carried that “truth” with me into every part of my life, subconsciously building a case to make that “truth” true. The issue with that was that what the person spoke over me was not truth to begin with, so letting my mind search for evidence to make it true kept me spinning and focused on that WRONG thought. This may be difficult to understand so let me give you an example.

I was a sickly child so I spent a lot of time in doctor’s offices and hospitals. Throughout this time I was very blessed to be surrounded by wonderful doctors, nurses and other professionals. I was so honored by their care that they inspired me and I knew in my heart I wanted to do the same for others someday, so I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I was around 12 years old. As it happened often to me during that time of my life, I was hospitalized and an adult friend of our family came to visit me. We were alone in my hospital room and he was trying to make “small talk” with me so he asked me “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I was able to answer instantly because I KNEW what I wanted to be, so I said, “I want to be a doctor.” Instead of encouraging me by saying “good for you” or “you will be a great doctor” this man said, and I quote, “You will never be able to do that with your health, you need to choose something else.”

POW – whammy – what?!?! Reading that experience now it is easy to think: “why in the world would someone say that to a mere child”? But, it was said and with my 12 year old mind I didn’t know what to say back. I had learned that adults were to be trusted and respected so my 12 year old mind accepted that statement as truth. I filed that “truth” far back in my mind where, not realizing it at the time, it would become a steering mechanism for much of my life. Because I didn’t know I should filter what others spoke over me, I believed that statement and every time something was difficult or troublesome along my path, that “truth” would rear up and say “You’ll never be able to do that.” So, I would immediately agree with that thought and stop whatever it was I was doing. I had taken those words spoken over me, shortened them to my voice and unknowingly gave them power to make choices in life. What a bunch of hooey, 100% pure hooey!!

It wasn’t until I was meeting with a prayer minister in my 40’s that I was able to SEE how those words had steered me for over 30 years. Upon discovery of the influence of those words over my life, the prayer minister helped me walk through a prayer of forgiveness for that man and break the curse of those words he had spoken over me. Ever since that time, I have had a different outlook on my thoughts and on what others think about me, whether they have spoken it over me or not.

So, can you “contact trace” your thoughts? Are you believing something that someone once spoke over you and accepting it as truth? I encourage you to take a moment and inspect your thoughts from that perspective. If you often think to yourself, “I am a loser, I will never amount to anything” can you press pause on acceptance of that thought and identify where it came from? It may have come from a supposedly trustworthy source, like a parent, sibling, family member or dear friend. Just because it came from the mouth of someone you love or trust, does not make it true. As we have been learning on this journey, every thought needs to be taken captive and inspected for how it lines up to what God says about you. (2 Cor 10:5) I can GUARANTEE that God does not think you are a loser that will never amount to anything. So…now what, you ask? (so glad you did!)

Now, you take that thought that doesn’t line up with heaven and you toss it out like the stinkiest garbage you have ever smelled. Then you rinse your mind with the loving thoughts that God has about you. You may need to forgive the person that spoke that over you and if that thought keeps coming up, you will need to continue to refute it with God’s truth about you until it quiets forever. I’ll let you in on a little secret….GOD LOVES YOU! That is His truth about you! God loves you and He believes in you and He knows you can tackle anything that comes your way because He made you and made you strong enough to handle every single thing this crazy world can toss at you!

One other quick thought on this “thought inspection process” is to check what you think others are thinking about you. Just like your thoughts are your own, others thoughts are their own and guessing at what people think about you is like throwing darts at a board while blindfolded. Too often in the world these days we may know what people think about us because filters have disappeared with the proliferation of social media. However, there are still more instances where you do not know what others actually think about you and trying to figure it out or acting in a way to refute what you think they think is a Total and Complete Waste of time and energy. The only opinion that matters is the one from above and it is not an opinion, it is a fact. God sees you as a beloved child and loves you no matter what you’ve done in the past or what you are doing or are not doing right now.

I hope you take the time to walk out Part 2 of our thought inspection process. You may have many things others have spoken over you that need to be cleaned up and routed out. Don’t be discouraged, rather be encouraged by the transformation you will experience through this process. It is a process to renew your mind and you will indeed be transformed by it. After all a great book I often read, says this:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2a

Stay tuned for Part 3 of “Don’t believe everything you think”… It is the key to living a life a victory and joy this side of heaven.

Blessings and Love to you!

PS. Gotta tell ya…I am wearing a Princess Crown as I type today…because I have learned to see myself through God’s eyes and His eyes alone. I Am His Beloved Daughter and since He is The King of Everything…that makes me a Princess!