LEARNING TO TALK TO OURSELVES RATHER THAN BEING TALKED TO BY OURSELVES

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8 ESV

Paul exhorts us to learn to think on the right things; things that will enlarge your heart, mind, affections, and life. Here’s one practical but absolutely radical way that you can apply this verse and begin to think these things: talk to yourself instead of listening to yourself.

Martyn Lloyd Jones, in his profound book called Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure says: “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Talking to yourself instead of listening to yourself is Philippians 4:8 in action. . There is magnificent truth, designed for our meditation and the enlargement and liberation of our soul. Speaking the truth to ourselves is a powerful means of us becoming what we ought to be.

Take a moment to examine your thinking yesterday. Did you spend most of your time speaking truth to yourself or listening to yourself? Most of us spend more time listening to lies than we do speaking truth to ourselves. And the listening process usually starts as soon as we get up. As we get out of bed, the listening begins and we are vulnerable to be at the mercy of our thoughts throughout the day. See, what we have each day is an internal conversation that never ends. It is ceaseless. It continues always within us. And so each day, throughout the day, we have two simple choices: We can either spend the day listening to ourselves, listening to ourselves in our constantly changing feelings and circumstantial interpretations, or we can declare war on our thoughts by talking to ourselves and speaking the truth. We can talk truth to ourselves. We can preach the gospel to ourselves, and we can address our fearful, worried, tempted, tempted, troubled, and tormented mind with the truth pf Scripture.

A great example of this is David in Psalm 42 and 121. Notice there is one voice speaking to David in Psalm 42:5. "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?" David hears himself saying that he is depressed, discouraged, and anxious. But then David speaks to himself ,"Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God" (Psalm 42:5-6). Now David preaches to himself, "Soul, stop being depressed! hope in God, trust in God soul. He is my salvation. He is God!"

What are you mulling over these days? What does your mind return to again and again? Our thoughts cannot be trusted. And circumstances often lie to us. They lie to us, informing us that God isn't sovereign; God isn't wise, God isn't kind, God isn't active, God isn't present, God isn't for us—in fact, he has forgotten us. We, by the grace of God, must not be governed by our minds. We must not be governed by our faulty interpretation of circumstances. NO! We must take these truths in Scripture and then, by the grace of God, speak to your mind. By the grace of God cease listening to your mind and instead speak to your mind with the promises of God, and these promises will transform your mind from a shriveled up, small, troubled and enslaved soul into a large, beautiful, free and hopeful soul.

Here is how I preach to myself. I am feeling hopeless, "Bill, hope in God". I am getting impatient. "Bill, you must wait on God." I am feeling like my world is out of control. "Bill, God is sovereign and He is faithful and He is kind. He is God and He will intervene." I am feeling purposeless and going nowhere. "Bill, God will fulfill His promises and His purpose for our lives." My mind says God won’t forgive me. "Bill, Jesus says if I confess my sins He is faithful to forgive all my sins!" My mind says that I’m a loser. "Bill, you have been predestined to be conformed to the very image of Christ!" I feel that I’m all alone. "Bill, Jesus says that He will never leave me nor will He ever forsake me!" Jesus says, "I am with you always!" M y mind says, another boring meaningless day. "Bill, this the day the Lord has made! Redeem the time, make the most of every opportunity. Don't waste your life!"

The good news today is this: This moment, you can begin to talk to your mind. You can begin sowing truth to your mind. And if you begin this very moment, this will ensure that you will reap the effect of truth in your mind and heart, and life at some point in the future. If you are convinced—and I assume you are convinced by the apostle Paul—of the importance of this practice, and if you employ this practice, by God's grace this will have a transforming effect and make a noticeable difference in your life. Find the true, the honorable, the right, the pure, the lovely, the commendable, the excellent, and praiseworthy and think about it!

Talk to yourself instead of listening to yourself.

Striving to talk to myself soul expanding and heart enlarging truth,

Pastor Bill