Have you ever wondered what people are thinking on all day? What causes them to act the way they do? We all have come across people who seem to be bitter about life and have lost their joy! Every word that comes out of their mouth is negative. It could be the most beautiful day ever and they will say, “Man, the sun is too bright” or “It is way too hot outside today.” They never seem to see anything in a positive light and spew hatred and anger.

Well, have you ever considered what is going through your mind on a daily basis? All of us have thousands of thoughts every day and they are actually the forerunner to our actions. The Bible says, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is…” (Proverbs 23:7 NASB). In other words, you become what you think on. The thoughts you dwell on throughout the day are very important!

Maybe you have had some traumatic event and fear has kept you from experiencing peace for a very long time and kept you from taking risk. Or, maybe you have had a root of anger running deep within your heart and you don’t know why, but it has affected every aspect of your life. Could it be because you have unforgiveness toward a family member, coworker, friend or someone who has hurt you immensely? Maybe your family told you that you would never amount to anything in your life, and those words play over and over again in your mind. They have become prophetic in a sense because you have chosen to believe them! Maybe you feel like you could never be loved because you have made one too many mistakes. The lies and distorted truth run rampant in your mind, but you just agree with them and let them run their course.

I am very familiar with self-hate. I didn’t even know that I didn’t like myself, until one day I was driving home from somewhere and God spoke to me and said, “I am pleased with who I made you.” Over the course of the next several months and even years, God began to expose all the areas of my life that I didn’t like myself and He began to heal me. I didn’t realize I had all kinds of wrong self-hate thoughts going on in me. The Holy Spirit is the Great Physician and He can expose wrong thinking that is harming us and He can bring healing into our lives so we view ourselves the way God sees us. Today, I am more comfortable in my skin than I have ever been and I love being me!

Just recently, I was around one of my brothers and I had in times past compared myself to him. God has healed me a great deal in this area of my life, but this particular day, I felt those negative comparison thoughts and emotions trying to rise up in me once again. I had a choice to dwell on them or let them go and believe the truth about what God says about me. I am excited to say, I chose to cast those negative thoughts down and replaced them with the truth of God’s word and I was able to enjoy my brother’s company and encourage him instead of be threatened by him.

The Bible teaches us that God has a good unique plan for our lives. Don’t fall into the trap that you have to be exactly like someone else, even if you are an identical twin!

Today is a day to take inventory of what is happening on the inside of your heart and soul. Ask God to help you see things that don’t agree with His Word or nature and what He says about you! The Bible says, “For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical

[weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6 AMP). This is a powerful passage because it tells us that God has given us weapons of warfare to overthrow strongholds in our minds! We can take those negative thoughts and mindsets captive to the obedience of Christ by pulling them down and replacing them with the truth from God’s Word! The Bible also says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is [a]lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, [b]dwell on these things.” The Bible teaches us to dwell on right thinking because our minds easily drift to negativity.

Will you let God bring to light the negative thoughts in your heart so you can cast them down and replace them with life giving ones? The key to victorious Christianity is learning to think on the things that please God. You are valuable. You can forgive those who have harmed you and release them into God’s hands. You have what it takes to accomplish the dreams God has put in your heart! God loves you unconditionally and believes in you! His mercies are new every morning. Believe His Word today! Start receiving the truth instead of lies and you will experience an abundant life! It won’t be easy, but with God’s help you can overcome!