Speak with Love

How do you talk to yourself?  Do you speak gently and encouragingly, with kind words that bring hope?  Or do you tell yourself things that you would never think of saying to someone else?

I struggle with self talk.  I see my messy house, those pounds I should lose, how I couldn't think of the right words to say, and I make sure I don't forget any of those things.  So many times I break my own heart.  And that breaks my Creator's heart.

Proverbs 12:18
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

How would my outlook change if I gave myself more grace?  I think I would be more brave, willing to put myself out there and take risks.  I would most likely be more content with who I am if I told those negative voices to shut up.  My soul would be calmer, and in those quiet moments right before I fall to sleep, my mistakes  wouldn't be paraded around in my mind's eye.  I know the devil definitely has a place in trying to bring me down, but I should be fighting him, not helping him by accepting the lies.  Lies like, "I'm stuck here.  I can never change."  "I always mess up!  Will I ever get it right?"  "I'm so alone in this.  No one else knows what it's like."

 Proverbs 15:4
The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

Perverse can mean cross, ill-natured in spirit.  I can become cross with myself and my shortcomings, and my defeating thoughts crush me.  I love how the Bible is so truthful and timeless.  God gets it.  He knows what it's like to walk this earth and feel weary and heartbroken.

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

I'm not exactly sure how I will boast about my weaknesses, but I do know God wants me to allow Him to work through them so I can be refined.  I'm not supposed to wallow in them.

Thanks for letting me share my heart.  I feel challenged right now to really examine my thought life, and ask God to make me more aware of what I'm telling myself as soon as that negative thought hits my brain so I can squash it.  I hope you can weed out the lies you tell yourself, too.  When you pull out a lie, replace it with a truth that God gives you.  Claim His word as your own.

Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.