Today's message comes from the Renewed Man Boot Camp. Renewed Man is a systematic teaching and coaching series designed to help men grow emotionally, relationally, and spiritually ... developing the essential character quality of "self-mastery." Even though this community is created for men, the principles are universal -- women will benefit from these insights
as well.
We build this teaching around 12 Keys, and this week, we're focusing on Key 8:
Managing Stress and Anxiety. Here's how we put it:
8. Managing Anxiety & Stress - We pay attention to
our needs and limits as human beings. We work to create a life that is amazing and exciting, but also sustainable … a life we don't feel the need to escape from.
Here's one of the daily messages from this week's teaching series. I hope this will help you:
************
One of our biggest challenges as Christians is controlling negative thoughts. Our inner voice is often filled with doubt, self-criticism, and negative emotions. But as neuroscientists and psychologists have been saying for years, this voice is not something to be rid of, but rather something to harness.
According to neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf, "We can control our thoughts, and therefore we can change our lives." This means that even though negative
thoughts may arise, we have the power to choose how we respond to them. We can either let them consume us, or we can take control and redirect our thoughts towards positivity.
Psychologist Dr. Martin Seligman also emphasizes the power of our thoughts, stating that "We can choose to be victims of our thoughts, or we can choose to be creators of our thoughts." This idea is particularly relevant to Christians, who are called to take responsibility for their thoughts and actions (more on this later).
How Do We DO This?
How can we control negative thoughts?
1. One way is simply through awareness. Often referred to with today's buzzword "mindfulness," this is the act of being aware of and present to your thoughts and feelings ... without judging whether they are valid or reasonable. As Dr. Leaf notes, "Mindfulness
helps you become more aware of your thoughts so you can catch negative patterns and replace them with positive ones."
By practicing mindfulness, you can begin to recognize
when negative thoughts are arising and actively choose to redirect your thoughts towards something positive ... maybe a different way of looking at the situation you're thinking about. This brings us to the second strategy:
2. Don't just become aware of the thoughts ... question them, decide to think about things in a different way. In other words, replace negative thoughts with positive ones. According to psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson, "The mind is like Velcro for negative experiences and
Teflon for positive ones." This means that negative experiences tend to stick in our minds more than positive ones. By intentionally focusing on positive thoughts and experiences, we can train our brains to prioritize positivity.
How Does This Square With the Teaching of Scripture?
Even though the Bible is realistic about the level of brokenness and deceit in the human heart, it's also clear that we DO have the ability to consciously and deliberately choose what we
think. In fact, we are commanded to exercise this ability to choose.
Philippians 4:8 states, "Finally, brothers and sisters, 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."
And in Romans 12:1-2 Paul
says this: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Our minds are renewed as we fill them with different inputs. They are renewed as we consciously choose the positive, pure, excellent, and praiseworthy things.
Final Thought About Thoughts
One more thing: Remember that negative thoughts -- like sad and
discouraging thoughts -- are not inherently bad. As Dr. Seligman notes, "Negative emotions are part of the human experience and serve a purpose." Rather than trying to completely rid ourselves of negative thoughts, we can instead accept them as they arise, and then let them go.
As Dr. Leaf puts it, "You can take control of your thoughts, or your thoughts can take control of you." The way we control them is by allowing them, but not necessarily taking them seriously, or believing them. For example, you may have an insecure or fearful thought, but you can follow it up by
reminding yourself that "there's a different way of looking at this." The thought that popped into your head may not be
true. So let it go!
By practicing mindfulness, focusing on positivity, and drawing on the wisdom of scripture, you can learn to harness the power of your
inner voice and live a more fulfilling life.
NEXT ACTION
Today's action is to engage in a special
focus on "noticing" the thoughts that pop in and out of your mind. Focus -- and take action on -- this phrase:
Today, think about what you think about.
You remember that key 2 of the 12 Keys is to Manage our Environment. In order to build health and vitality in our lives, we seek to fill our environment with things that reinforce our positive commitments,
and rid our environment of things that trigger negativity and temptation.
But it's helpful to remember that what fills our minds is the ultimate environment that we create for ourselves. We can be in the most beautiful, lush, physical environment -- and at the same
time have our minds marinate in hate, negativity, fear, and sadness.
What can you do to fill your mind with more of what Paul advocates in Philippians 4 -- "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."
************
Would you like to go "all in" and join the Renewed Man Boot Camp? It's a 12 Week
Immersion in these principles. You'll get these daily teachings, a weekly video on one of the 12 Keys of Being a Renewed Man, and access to a support group and/or a coaching group that I lead.
Find out more about the Renewed Man Program
here.
