When I was first asked to write about overcoming negative thoughts, my initial thought was, “I have no business writing about this!” I had negative thoughts about writing about negative thoughts! And then my next thought was, “I appreciate authentic people who are willing to talk about things they struggle with.” The Holy Spirit moves when we’re vulnerable.
I’ve walked through some dark seasons of negative thoughts in my life. As I was processing through those, I realized that almost every negative thought I’ve entertained is rooted in a lie about my identity, instead of the actual problem. It was because I didn’t believe I was worthy or good enough. The root was always my identity.
When my identity is found in anything other than Christ, negative thoughts ensue.
If my identity is found in my husband or my children or my job instead of Jesus, when issues arise, I believe I’m not a good enough wife or mom or employee. When my identity is found in my ability to protect myself, and situations arise where I feel attacked, I tell myself I’m not strong enough. When my identity is found in a person, and that person does me wrong, I tell myself surely, surely, surely, it’s me. It’s something I did wrong.
How do I know that it’s an attack on my identity? Because my negative thoughts are overwhelmingly about me not being good enough. You can fill in your blank. Our inner beliefs can become twisted by pain, disapproval, or other people’s words.
Our brains can trick us into unhealthy patterns of thinking. A thought becomes a seed. Then it becomes a lie I believe. That lie then becomes my first response to situations, and it turns into a habitual, instinctive negative thought pattern. Isn’t it so interesting that our first response to situations is usually negative and often unrealistic? Faulty perceptions will lead to faulty beliefs. On the other hand, true perceptions will lead to true beliefs. Our faulty perceptions automatically change as we fix our thoughts on the Truth—Jesus (Hebrews 3:1).
Your “root” may look different than mine. I think the most important piece of overcoming negative thoughts is figuring out where you’re leaving the door open for the enemy to sneak in. The enemy attacks the moment we take our identity off of Jesus and put it anywhere else.
God commands us to take our thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). It’s not a suggestion. He commands us to do this because He knew that we would allow negative circumstances and worldly views to cloud our thinking. And because He loves us so much, He gives us tools and instructions in his Word that He wants us to use. When we trust the Lord, and allow his truths to fill our thoughts, He will transform our minds (Romans 12:2).
If my identity is rooted in Christ, Holy Spirit truth will ensue.
The Father loves us so much He made a way for us to overcome. The Bible says, “This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). He sent His son to take it all away. He sent His son to remind us that WE ARE WORTH IT. It’s all because of mercy we’re able to overcome. We can’t earn “good enough.”
When we figure out that something is a lie, we need to replace that lie with the truth of God’s word. The truth combats lies. The truth combats negative thoughts. The truth sets us free (John 8:31-32)!
I encourage you to fall in love with the Word, prayer, and worship. Spiritual disciplines are like balm to the wounds in our souls. Truthfully, negative thoughts don’t go away forever. The same ones sometimes still come up. New ones will come up too. We are human. Crucify them every day. Don’t pretend to have it altogether. Scripture tells us that by Jesus’ blood and by being vulnerable, HE overcomes for us.
“They conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony… “ Revelation 12:11
We want to thank JuLea Bouma for sharing this post.
Women's Ministry 
Love this, JuLea!