How You Respond
How was your day?
When people hear that question their mind will either flashback to the negative things or the positive things of the day. The way to tell which response you will receive depends on if the person starts off with saying “it was good” or just plain “fine.” Whether a person chooses to share, or focus on, the good or bad details of the day will tell a lot about their mindset.
I want to start off with one question but two variations of it and want you to really try to answer them honestly:
Are you just speaking about your situation or are you speaking to it?
In other words, when something is going on in your life, are you just telling people about the difficulty, frustration, and hurt of it or are you speaking life over your situation?
Don’t get me wrong, you can voice the things that you are dealing with or what’s bothering you, but it doesn’t have to be what you fixate on and complain about to people every time. In that case, you are giving too much time and power to the negative influences in your life. When thoughts of worry, frustration, or negative self-talk come up it can be easy to just sit in it and overthink yourself into a deep, dark pit. It may seem like there is nothing in your power to change things and that your situation feels hopeless, but I assure you it’s not. You may need to be in that place to realize that the only thing that is in your “power” is how you respond. You can choose to fight back against the bondage the enemy tries to put you in by the way you respond. Yet you need to remember that this is only successful when done with the Lord. Choose to defend yourself with what God has given you to use - His Word. Even Jesus used God’s Word when the devil was trying to tempt Him. Jesus spoke God’s Word back to the devil to correct the thinking that the enemy was trying to instill in Him. Jesus was actually affected when He was tempted because although He is 100% God, we can’t forget that He is still 100% man. So, I’m sure that when Jesus spoke back to the devil with the Word, it was with the purpose of renewing His mind and keeping His head straight- Jesus used the Word as a weapon. You have access to the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17), and the authority through Jesus to take care of any weapon that may be formed against you (Isaiah 54:17), along with so much more. I encourage you to read those two passages as they are linked for you to go read and claim over yourself and your situation!
God is your only protection/defense against anything that comes against your mind, body, or spirit, and He has given resources to show each of us how to do our part.
In Proverbs chapter eighteen at the beginning of verse twenty-one it says, “ the tongue has the power of life and death..” You can either say positive things to lift yourself and others up, or do the opposite. It all starts with what you think and then, from there, you can either speak it over yourself as you correct your thinking. For example, there is an experiment that shows the power behind saying encouraging words.
Some people spoke negative words to one plant and positive words to another to see which one would grow. Sure enough, the plant that had positive words spoken over it grew beautifully, whereas the other died.
Now, if that doesn’t show the power and impact of our words, I don’t know what does! It is so important to encourage yourself, and others, because there is a positive impact that takes place whether you see it or not. You will eventually notice how you have grown in the areas that you once were putting yourself down about. Especially when you use the Word of God to speak over yourself you will always be changed and uplifted. Claim what God says about you, the promises He makes to you, and the saving action He has done for you. When you start to change your response, you will experience how He lifts you up. God says you are chosen (1 Peter 2:9)! He says He will be your refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1)! And lastly, God will be the One who will fight for you (Exodus 14:14)! This is all attainable but you must do your part and stand on His Word, proclaiming it over yourself, as He works!
