Affirmations

"Do not be confirmed by this world, but be transformed by the renewal of the mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

All of us were told negative things about ourselves at some point in our lives. Chances are the negative things we were told were not even true. Chances are even greater that we believed that negative comment even though it was false. Ephesians 4:13 says to "be renewed by the spirit of your mind." How do we change the way we think? How can we stop believing the lies that we have believed for the majority of our lives? Sometimes when people become Christians God automatically sets them free from incorrect mindsets. However, this is not always the case. When you have lived the majority your life believing negative things about yourself, it’s hard to just instantly stop believing those things.

I can say that this has been something I struggle with. As a child, I was severely bullied. This caused me to have low self-esteem. Since my self-esteem was so low, I often allowed myself to be bullied without standing up for myself. This caused me to be bullied more and became very shy, unsure of myself, and withdrawn. I did not have many friends growing up, and the friends that I did have often took advantage of me, and were not good friends. I knew that my mom and some of my family loved me, but I still felt unlovable. I knew in my head that God loved me, but I did not understand how deep his love for me really was. As a young adult, I wanted so badly to be loved and accepted. So, I got involved in relationships that were unhealthy for me.I dated a guy who just treated me horribly and ridiculed me in front of my "friends." Then after that I became involved in a guy who was physically, emotionally, and verbally abusive to me.

Through my struggles, God has revealed his love for me. He has showed me that I deserved to be treated better than I was. He has showed me how healing forgiving those who hurt me really is. I often think of how amazing it is that God has taken the things in my past that brought me pain and replaced them with wonderful things. I now have a wonderful husband, who is full of faith in God and treats me with respect. I have real friends that care for me and are there for me when I need them. God has bought me a long way, and I am a lot further than I was in the past.

Even though I have a deeper understanding of God's love for me and my value to God, I still struggle with self-esteem issues. I have come a long way, but I still find myself believing things about myself that are false. Recently, someone suggested to me that I try positive affirmations to change my mindset. A positive affirmation is a true positive statement that you repeat to yourself over and over again to change your mindset. I have started to try it before, but I never really stuck with it. I am now dedicating myself to reciting positive affirmations to myself, so that I can have the mindset God wants me to have.

"Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on Earth" Colossians 3:2

It has been five days that I have dedicated myself to reciting my affirmations. I have three affirmations up in my kitchen. Every time I see the affirmations I read them out loud to myself.   Mine are "God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches," "I am beautifully and wonderfully made", and "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (My husband also put a bible verse on the fridge for me. It was more of a scripture, than an affirmation, but I thought it was sweet. He put "There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all.") (Thank you Adam for being so loving and supportive of me.) I have already noticed a difference in these past 5 days. I tend to be a worrier sometimes. I found my mind worrying about something the other day, and then my affirmation came to my mind. I felt calm because I knew that God would supply all my needs. I found myself worried about what someone thought about me, and I thought to myself, it does not matter what that person thinks because the God of this universe thinks I am beautiful and wonderful. It's still a process, but I plan on sticking with it. I encourage you to try it for yourself.