whatever is … true

… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

I love this verse in Philippians. It is absolutely one of my favourites. And with the huge amount of negativity, pain and heartache that is in the world today. I feel a real need to sink into this verse for a while. So I am going to do a few posts on this over the next month or so. Starting with “whatever is true”, today.

This verse applies in a number of circumstances, but I have been thinking about it a lot lately in the context of self-talk.

I pick my girls up on stuff all the time. When they are enter the “I’m not special” or “no one loves me” spiral, I challenge them and get them to actively name something special about themselves or someone who loves them.

But when it comes to my own self-talk I am less diligent. Sometimes I find myself in the web of compare and contrast that leads to dissatisfaction with who I am and what my life looks like. Sometimes I allow untruths to gain precedence in my thoughts, untruths like “you aren’t creative”, “you’re not a good mum”, “you can’t do this” and so many more.

I strongly believe words have power and I have no tolerance for the lies my girls speak over themselves, but when it comes to me, it is another matter. Probably because I have spoken these things to myself for so long that I no longer recognise them as lies.

Sometimes, I too, enter the “I’m not special”, or “no one loves me” spiral. Sometimes I too am speaking lies to myself.

What are your lies, the ones you no longer even notice anymore. The ones you don’t think to challenge. I wonder what would happen if you noticed them, named them and then (as I do with my children) actively spoke the truth over yourself?

When it comes me, I think it’s about time I found out!

Join me on the journey?

Jodie