Have you ever repeated words in your head that started out as a lie but now you're wondering, "is this actually true"?
Several years ago, I found out that a friend was talking about me, and listen, we all know that's not a fun place to be in. She had suggested I was a "less-than-friendly" type of person after all, to put it nicely. The reason it stung so badly was because I felt I was actually going out of my way to be kind toward her.
Instead of reaching out to her, I shrunk back and began to let those words fester. For two years they filtered into all of my friendships - old and new. I stopped reaching out to old friends because, based on her words, none of it could ever be good enough. I shrunk back from new friendships telling myself “what is the point.”
I let her words fill my heart, soul, and mind.
Have you ever been there?
Listen, words are powerful. A friend’s words are mighty when they lift us up, but they can most certainly linger too long when they were meant to tear us down.
Satan would love it if he could kill us with our own thoughts, whether they are rooted in someone else's words or our own. He would love nothing more than to take one simple sentence that someone said a long time ago to torture us into thinking we are not worthy to see the light of day, let alone approach the throne of grace with confidence.
The only way I have found to consistently combat Satan in my thought life is to replace those words with His Truth.
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8
This verse has become a filter when thoughts begin to rage in my head. I ask myself: Is it true? Is it lovely? Does it bring honor to myself or that person? If the answer is no, I begin to repeat that verse over and over until my thoughts move on to something else. In my head, y'all - no one likes a crazy person! It sounds so simple, but make no mistake that this is still a hard discipline to put into practice!
Sweet women of the Lord, can we not only work to be gentler with our words to others but stronger in our sense of self? Can we look for ways to shake Satan loose and inform him of who we are in Jesus?
No matter what words were said or what lies were spread, the Truth is that we are daughters of the King who is not shaken by this world, those words or our lies.
We are loved, we are worthy, we are unashamed and we are His. This is the Truth y’all. No one and no one’s words can take this away from us. May we live in these truths this week!