Parents, be careful what you say to your children because your consistent words will become their self-talk. Our minds are always working, talking, thinking. This is our self-talk. What we say to ourselves may be the most important aspect of our mental health and our trajectory in life. Words of affirmation or criticism from our parents certainly shape our current thinking, but those words need not determine our lives.
So, have you ever listened to yourself? I mean all those thoughts coursing through your mind. Are you saying helpful things to yourself? Would you talk to a friend like that?
The most important message is the good news of Jesus, the gospel. This the good news: God made us, forgives us, and gives his life to us by way of the cross of Jesus. When we receive this news, it changes everything.
All the worries of life pale in comparison to the love of God for us.
He is in charge.
He is our Father.
He won’t leave us as orphans.
He puts his Spirit in us to encourage us.
He transforms our pain into strength and hope.
He knows we mess up, and he loves us anyway.
His heart is tender to us.
He transforms us from the inside out, making us more like Christ.
He lets his love flow through us to a hurting world around us.
This is the gospel message, and we need to preach it to ourselves. This is the self-talk of truth. It is self-talk that shapes my soul for good. God uses our own thoughts to transform us. And he lets us choose how we will think.
God wants to transform our self-talk to reflect the gospel, so that our self-talk can transform us to be like Jesus.
