Did you know the average human has 12,000 – 60,000 thoughts each day, and of those thoughts, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive? Put simply, we’re allowing crappy mantras to march through our brains unchecked every day. It seems it’s easier for our brains to lean toward Darkness than Light.
Most of the time, it’s unconscious. These thoughts have been circulating in our brains for so long, we’ve unconsciously given them permanent residence.
How do we evict these thoughts? By asking ourselves questions, separating our thoughts from circumstances, and intentionally replacing the Garbage & Lies with the Good & Truth.
What I’ve learned is most of the things we would call our Circumstances are actually thoughts we’ve allowed ourselves to believe are facts.
Some examples could be:
→ I don’t have enough time
→ I’m broke
→ I’ll never lose the weight
→ I have a really demanding job
→ I’ll never find someone who loves me for me
→ My spouse/sister/coworker/friend is mad at me.
I’m betting you wouldn’t say the things you think about yourself to someone else. Ever. So why is it okay to allow these Garbage Thoughts to reside rent free? Your mind is a spiritual battlefield. (“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘴.” ~ Ephesians 6:12)
These strongholds can leave us feeling stuck.
As in all things in Life, what we feed grows. What we starve shrinks. Like habits, once we’ve thought a Crappy Thought, it’s neurologically easier to think it again. Same goes for Encouraging Thoughts.
Being aware of and addressing our sneaky thoughts is crucial to getting off the Crappy Thought Carousel. (Some friends & I have named those Mean Thoughts – mine is Felicia.)
Often our minds are unfocused and wandering. An unchecked wandering mind can be a Dangerous Thing. Why? When we have a wandering mind, the things meant to bless us externally actually stress us internally. (Our children, spouses, jobs, volunteer hours, homes, even vacations)
Awareness of our thoughts is also Biblical.
“𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘩, 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴.” ~ Proverbs 23:7
“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.” Philippians 4:8
“𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.” ~ Romans 12:2 (I’m interpreting “Renewing of your mind = taking thoughts captive)
Even if we don’t like them, our unchecked crappy thoughts are at least comfortable. There is comfort in the familiar, even if the familiar doesn’t serve us. But God tells us we are a new Creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).
He also promises any weapon formed against us will not prosper. (Isaiah 54:17)
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭?
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