Do You Talk to Yourself?

Martin Lloyd-Jones once said: "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?”

Each of us has negative thoughts—troubling and sometimes disturbing. If we pay attention to these negative thoughts, we energize them. You might say we feed them. So instead of listening to them, we should start talking to them.

For example, think how different things might have been if Eve had not listened to the serpent who twice planted doubts about what God had really said. If Eve had only talked back to Satan, perhaps she would have gained control of her thoughts! But her negative thinking actually allowed Satan to deceive her. Here’s the pattern: first Satan dictated her thoughts; then he deceived her mind. Don't let negative thinking dictate you. Turn the tables—make them take dictation! Talk to them assertively from the Word of truth until you have taken all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).