Words

What words are you entertaining in your brain today?

It matters.

Believe me, I know.

We live in a world of poise and self-confidence. People strut and preen and boast. But how many honestly, actually, truly think they're worth it? I'd put money on this: not many. I sure don't.

I'm fat.

I'm ugly.

I'm stupid.

I'm broken.

I'm a mess.

I'm incompetent.

I'm unlovable.

I'm a failure.

I've had these thoughts. All of them. Repeatedly.

You think these things because you believe they're true. Maybe it didn't start out that way. Maybe you did have healthy self-confidence once. Maybe the first seed of doubt was planted by an unkind parent, a harsh teacher, or those demons that occupy your mind at three in the morning. Maybe they come from haunting memories of three men who molested you & had such a strong hold on your mind and heart that your world became so twisted for so long that it began to look straight to you. Your mind can become a place of elegantly constructed lies. They're so elegant that you can forget that they're lies. Words can hurt and haunt.

Those words that your brain accepts as true are the words your heart comes to live by. 

The heart isn't as easily changed as the head, but one thing that can change it is the repeated, relentless, bruising, breaking words that the mind thinks. It won't change by one harsh word or thought, but days, months, and years will establish heart-habits.

This is why the words that your mind thinks are so important. The head influences the heart. The heart, in turn, influences the head. These things - your intellect and your will - influence your life. The words that your mind thinks should be habitually positive and good.

Because your heart deserves a home that is good.

Words can heal and strengthen.

And where can you find better words for the mind to think than those that the Word Himself gave us?

As always, Ann Voskamp provides inspiration and practical tools to help us in these things. This post is the second in a series that provides free printables of Gospel verses. They're the words that your heart should build into its home. Because they're Truth.

I have been gifted with abundant life.

I will not perish.

I have been gifted with peace.

I am not afraid.

I have been gifted with joy.

I am blessed.

I have been gifted with love.

I abide in that Love.

And I - broken, messy, imperfect me - do have those things. They are all gifts from Him, but He has given them all to me.

These are the words that should fill my mind. These are the words that should be a home for my heart.

In order to live in Love, you must first think in Love.

God so loved the world - loved me and you - that He gave His only Son. He sent us His Son - gifted Him to us - so that we might not die. You and I won't die. You and I will live and live eternally through His perfect gift of Perfect Self.

The words your mind thinks become the home your heart lives in.  

Think the words that bring life so that your heart may revel in life.

I am made for two things: to love and to be loved.

The first can be so easy... the second can be so hard.

"Spiritual disciplines are not about getting God to love you — but about getting your heart in a place so you can hear Him say it." ~Ann Voskamp


Amen.