Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. (Proverbs 16:24)
As a writer, I love words. In fiction, I love finding just the right words for my characters to use when they speak to each other.
But one thing I discovered. I’m not always as careful when I chose the words I say to myself–sometimes I say things that I wouldn’t allow even the most evil character in my fiction to use.
This really began to be an issue while our son was on deployment. All I did was emphasize the bad things about the situation, instead of looking for the positive. That negative self-talk began to have a huge effect on me. Unfortunately, I began to believe the things I said to myself, and it pulled me under until I began to reach out to others, to practice thinking positive thoughts (in the tradition of Guideposts founder and author of The Power of Positive Thinking, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale).
Maybe you do the same thing.
“I’m so stupid.”
“This situation isn’t fair.”
“I should just quit, I’ll never amount to anything.”
“There’s no way this will end well.”
“I’m ugly.”
“I’ll never see him again.”
“I can’t do anything right.”
Statistics tell us that when we speak negative things to someone close to us, it takes anywhere from eight to 16 positive things to outweigh one negative remark. This holds true when we talk to ourselves.
The truth is, each of us is unique and precious to God. He also promises to bring good out of every situation for those who love Him. Focusing on the negative is denying the power He has to make that come to pass.
He paid the ultimate price to bring us back to Him. How can we denigrate what God esteems? Think about how different your outlook might be if you spoke respectfully to yourself?
Join me today as I make the commitment to watch what I say.
