Yay! Today’s the day we start working to change our faulty thinking! I’m so excited!
And I have to tell you, the more I think about this exercise, and the more I do it, the more I realize that this is a good practice for every Christian - not just those who struggle with depression. So if you’ve been skipping my depression posts, or merely skimming them because they don’t apply to you, you’re going to want to pay attention to this one!
We’re in Chapter 14 of Dr O’Shields’s book Slaying the Giant,
1. STOP MAKING NEGATIVE STATEMENTS
The more depressed I became, the more negative my spoken statements became. Practically every statement I made regarding myself or my circumstances was negative. I was constantly declaring, “I can’t do anything right! …I am a failure at everything!…Nothing ever works out right for me!” […]
In my mind God clearly revealed to me that if I wanted to overcome my depression, I must stop making negative statements! […] He wasn’t presently expecting me to be rid of my negative thoughts, just don’t speak them.
I have been getting into a bad habit of negative speech myself. Phrases like “I’m so ugly”, “I’m useless. I’m sorry I’m so useless”, “I’m never going to get it together” were becoming rather routine. This was not good! Even now, althought I’m feeling better, I still have a habit of calling myself “Idiot!” whenever I make a mistake. I don’t know where I got that! No one has ever treated me that way but me. I really need to stop!
1 Peter 3:10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.”
A negative statement, by the way, is not the same as a statement of fact. Saying “I have a cold” is not a negative statement, even if I add “and I feel crummy. I need to go to bed.” But saying “I have a cold. It’ll probably turn into pnuemonia. I’m never going to get well”…Now that is a negative statement! Here’s a tip, if you sound more like Eeyore than Tigger, this advice is for you!
But what to do with all those negative thoughts that are still sludging around in our minds? First let me go back and snatch a quote from a previous chapter by way of review:
I had unknowingly allowed my thinking to become faulty and distorted, because I had unintentionally departed from applying this conviction. What had happened to me, happens to every psychologically depressed person - we replace (exchange) God’s truth with Satan’s lies.
Now we start the wonderful, joyous, liberating process of switching the thoughts back! And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free! Do you have your notebook? Well get it ready!
…”For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
This is how God taught me to do this. Instead of verbalizing a negative thought when it comes to mind, you write it in your notebook under a page headed “Testing the Thought”. Preface if with the words, “My Thought”. Carefully leave blank lines after each statement that you write. Do not be concerned if for a while your pages contain only negative statements and blank spaces. Because as you read the Scriptures (as prescribed in the second spiritual exercise we will discuss later), God will reveal to you specific Scripture verses that will expose each of your negative statements for what they are - lies! Now write this Scripture verse God’s Spirit has enabled you to discover in the blank lines under the negative statement it refutes. Preface the verse with the words, “Reality (God’s Truth)”. This is vital: Each day, for as many statements as you have found answers, read silently your thought, then read aloud God’s answer.
I have been doing this for a week or two now - though not every day. I can tell you, this works!! I’m not just limiting it to my negative/depressed type thoughts either. I’m also writing down some of my complaints and temptations and finding the Scriptural antidotes for them!
So here is your baby step towards recovery. Using the light of God’s word onto your path out of the darkness! Don’t delay. Get your notebook now. Start writing down those thoughts! God may even give you the verses before you open your Bible - depending on how much you have stored up in your heart. God gave me one this morning that I felt was for you - because it’s not a thought I have had in quite sometime. But I know that there are many who had this thought yesterday, or today, or maybe just a few minutes ago. So as an example:
Thought: I am never going to feel happy again.
Reality (God’s Truth)
Psalm 71:20 You who have shown me many troubles and distresses
Will revive me again,
And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
Go ahead. Read that verse outloud - and say it like you mean it! Tomorrow I will share one of my personal examples. A real thought that plagues me - and the antidote God gave me, much to my delight. If you’d like to share too, I will add a Mr Linky thing so we can benefit from each other’s learning. Then Friday I will share the second Spiritual Exercise.
For now, let me close with these words from Edith Shaeffer’s book Common Sense Christian Living and a Scripture which I am praying for myself and for you:
Words have an effect upon us. The words coming out of our own mouths influence us! Never forget that. We affect ourselves, we influence ourselves by the things we say with our tongues which then enter our own ears. The phrases and words may form in our brains, but as we speak aloud there comes an underlining, making them stand out in our own thinking and understanding. Human beings are affected by what they hear spoken in their own voices! […] We can consciously and deliberately refect ideas or words that are suddenly in our minds and deliberately not say these things , turning away from them. Speaking and declaring repetitively, not with a mindless kind of repetition, but with serious consideration, can affect us amazingly.
Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
good one!!! — I am learning so much at my new school about the scriptures and the power they hold — now I have a very real and practical way to record and use that knowledge…. I will do it — and blog on it — hold me accountable — if you don’t see it on my blog by Monday (It really may be the weekend before I can schedule time to type it out) nag me until it do it……..
Comment by Maria — October 11, 2006 @ 7:25 pm
Just wanted to let you know that these posts have been very helpful to me. I have been following this website since it started and I am really getting a lot out of it. Thanks for all your effort with this!
Comment by Debbie — October 12, 2006 @ 4:03 am