Words Can Hurt

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me!" As kids we often chanted this whenever someone called us a name. Is it true? No way!

Words can cut us deeply and can stick in our hearts and minds like stuck records throughout our lives. They can even hide in a corner of our minds and affect us in ways we don't even realize. And at times when we feel insecure or are faced with great challenges, those words can lift their ugly heads and discourage us.

"You're not good enough... You're dumb... You're worthless..." Words that make us feel like we'll never amount to much. Words that strip us of our self-worth and prevent us from fulfilling our God-given potential. Constant drips that wear away our courage to do things we really CAN do.

I'm so sorry if you have been hurt by words. It can be tough to shut off that persistent negative voice, but we can do it through Jesus. Jesus says we are precious in His sight.  Because of what He has done for us, we are beautiful. Because of Jesus, we can toss out those negative thoughts and fill them with positive ones. We can do ALL things in Christ Jesus!

Cute Colors

Negative Thoughts Begone!

Have you ever had days when negative thoughts rampage your mind?  Some days it can be tough to kick those stuck records out of sight and out of mind: "I'm not good enough," "I'm fat and ugly," "I'm stupid," and many more.

Satan has a heyday with negative thoughts.  He gets a thrill out of driving us into despondency.  As Kay Arthur says in her Lord, Heal My Hurts: A Devotional Study on God's Care and Deliverance, "Satan desires to sift us as wheat, to make us weak and ineffectual servants in the kingdom of God.  Having lost us to God, he knows that we are God's forever, yet the reality of that truth does not stop him."

When we are saved, the battle does not end.  Where God builds His church, Satan builds a chapel. Once Jesus has gathered another lamb to His fold, Satan will try whatever wily way he can to turn that heart from living for Jesus.  He is enraged that his power is broken by Jesus' blood and he prods us to doubt who we are in Jesus.

In Jesus, we are good enough.  In Jesus, we are beautiful.  In Jesus, we are intelligent and brave.  In Jesus, we are pure and undefiled.

Let's remember that the weapons we fight with have divine power to demolish every argument Satan sets up against the knowledge of God.  Let us boldly confront Satan and all those negative thoughts with the blood of Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 10: 4-5
"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."