ADVERTISEMENT

The importance of your self-talk

When you change your mind, you change your mood! It doesn’t happen automatically; you have to deliberately refocus your thinking at the very time when you feel least like doing it.

'Don't Look Back'

Memory Verse: Lamentations 3:21 "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope."

ADVERTISEMENT

The Word for Today devotional by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) says: 

Lamentations chapter three describes how despair engulfs us, and how we can conquer it.

Jeremiah’s downward spiral starts in verse one:

ADVERTISEMENT

‘I am the man who has seen affliction…’ (v 1 NAS), and morphs into an unhealthy preoccupation with his troubles.

The fact is, when our circumstances deteriorate, our self-talk sounds a lot like Jeremiah’s. He blamed God for his physical symptoms, his emotional anguish, and his sense of entrapment.

He rehearsed God’s failure to answer his prayers, and his fear that he’d been singled out as an object of public ridicule: all classic elements of depression.

No wonder he felt powerless and hopeless! (v 18). That kind of self-talk initiates and intensifies despair and depression and feeds our negative outlook.

The turning point came when Jeremiah changed his self-talk:

ADVERTISEMENT

‘This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.’

He changed his thought process by recalling God’s goodness and mercy: ‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed…His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness’ (vv 22-23 NIV).

When you change your mind, you change your mood! It doesn’t happen automatically; you have to deliberately refocus your thinking at the very time when you feel least like doing it.

Notice: Jeremiah’s circumstances didn’t improve his outlook did. A stream of encouraging thoughts triggered a change in his self-talk and his depression lifted:

‘“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I have hope in Him”’ (v 24 NAS). That’s how important your self-talk is!

ADVERTISEMENT

Bible in a Year: Luke 18:1-17; Ps 97-99;

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng

Recommended articles

Here's everything to know about being a virgin on your wedding night

Here's everything to know about being a virgin on your wedding night

7 do's and don’ts of the Holy month of Ramadan

7 do's and don’ts of the Holy month of Ramadan

Top 5 sweetest celebrity mother-child relationships that stand out for us

Top 5 sweetest celebrity mother-child relationships that stand out for us

International Women's Day: 5 Nigerian female celebrities championing women’s rights

International Women's Day: 5 Nigerian female celebrities championing women’s rights

Top 5 female directors in Nollywood

Top 5 female directors in Nollywood

6 things that will break a Muslim's fast during Ramadan

6 things that will break a Muslim's fast during Ramadan

5 benefits of fasting during Ramadan

5 benefits of fasting during Ramadan

5 reasons Easter was more fun when we were children

5 reasons Easter was more fun when we were children

Dos and don’ts of supporting Muslims during Ramadan

Dos and don’ts of supporting Muslims during Ramadan

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT