Words.
They have the power to bring LIFE and WHOLENESS.
They have the power to bring ANXIETY and PAIN.
But…God’s Words.
God’s Words to me, about me, change EVERYTHING!
God’s Words help me step into courage.
Confidence.
#bebrave.
I have known this gal for 45+++++ years.
A wonderful woman – generous, hospitable, funny, good.
She has been a role model in so many ways.
I’ve looked up to her, loved her, learned from her…
…but, she is just so stupid!
WAIT! WAIT!!!! WAIT!
Don’t stop reading there.
I’ve never thought of my friend as stupid.
NEVER!
But, if I’ve heard her say it about herself once, I’ve heard it thousands of times.
Almost every time I’m with her, in fact!
I’m convinced she’s convinced that this is TRUTH.
Stupid (see definition below thanks to Merriam-Webster):
This is definitely not a description of the person to whom I’m referring!
Hypothetically speaking, if I had said the above statement posted in bold, italicized-red, you most assuredly would have been appalled at my audacity and MEANNESS!
You would have called me rude;
you just might have decided never to look at another blog-post of mine….EVER!
Yet, day after day, minute after minute, we fall prey to mean-talk!
We allow our minds to talk this way about ourselves, and we are never appalled.
Most of the time we wholeheartedly agree.
We have a knack of convincing ourselves that statements like this are true.
Maybe it’s not the S-word (we told our kiddos as they were growing up that “stupid” was a bad word…it was never allowed to cross their lips about ANYONE or ANYTHING).
Maybe it’s other-words… words like I’m: ugly, fat, useless, unlovable, not good enough, unable, a looser, ______________ (fill in the blank).
Regardless of how you fill in the blank above, these are examples of words that exponentially increase our ANXIETY LEVELS in huge doses!
And, there is just NO NEED…
The big buzz these days is all about removing toxic people from our lives, walking away, setting up healthy boundaries.
Seriously!?!
Because here’s the problem: that little person who has made his/her home up in our minds is sure to disrupt the peace of our hearts!
The only way to eliminate that toxic person is to hand them completely over to the Spirit of God for radical transformation…
The only way to rid ourselves of this kind of anxiety is to apply a prescription of Philippians 4:7-9:
Today’s challenge:
Begin a 40-day word fast.
Declare WAR!!!
It won’t be easy.
When you begin to hear yourself say those ugly, anxiety-driven-words, STOP!
Then, say out loud (shout them if necessary) God-Words…
Think on these things:
You’ll soon see how often you set yourself up for a disruption of peace…
…and, you’ll see how making one little change can make a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!
PS. I’m not really a fan of the concept of “boundaries language” regarding “toxic” people (it can become such a weapon, instead of a tool)…but I am a fan of who the Holy Spirit says we are through those He breathed forth words to place in His Word.
