Growing up in a negative family was not a good lifestyle for me. My family would always pick fun of others at their expense. My father would tell my mom (or vice versa), while they are in public, look at that person and look at how she looks. Okay. Agreed spandex and an overweight person don’t look good. However, to vocalize that statement only integrated into my mind about appearance. It sets up a harsh judgment and doesn’t carry the mind of Christ in accepting others for who they are. It shaped who I was becoming.
Therefore, I am seriously and humbly want to publically apologize for those who knew and know me. I am truly sorry for putting you down. Not uplifting you. There are no excuses for my behavior and account for my responsibility. My negative attitude and lifestyle didn’t praise God and surely didn’t help you to see Him. Being selfish didn’t help either and this has weighed heavily on my mind. Two years ago, I became a Christian (1 Peter 3:21, Mark 16:16) and thought I was already. I realized my lifestyle was not in alignment with Him.
Thoughts are like the good and bad cholesterol. The bad cholesterol clogs the heart to see the best in others. It takes mental exercise and diet of God’s word to stay mentally in shape. Prayer is like “Lipitor”. It reduces the bad. Making a visit to the Great Physician (Mark 2:17) helps keeping your heart in check.
If you are having problems identifying who you are and wondering where you fit in life, it is understandable. I faced that situation myself as you can see from reading. Here is what I did to help reimage my mind.
Finding you:
1. Start with a clean slate:
a. Psalms 51:10- Pray for God to create a clean heart.
In any decision everything must start with prayer. Even when trying to figure out who you are. Prayer is the gateway to make sure God will provide the way.
b. Philippians 3:13- Forget what is behind and work towards the future.
Work out past issues. If you can’t and you tried then try to move towards a future of what is in the alignment of God’s will and is pleasing to both.
c. Colossians 3:13 – Forgive the past
Hard to forget and to have a clean heart when junk is in the way. Resentment builds and blinds the road to happiness. Sometimes resentment is like cholesterol in the blood. It builds and chokes out the life within you. Forgetting who you are and where you are going. Forgiveness and prayer is like Lipitor it will clean out the arteries (thoughts) to your heart and provides more energy to live for Him.
d. Psalms 112:7-8 – Secure your heart and don’t fear
We have to secure our faith in Him and not fear where things are coming from. He said he will provide it is up to us to exercise our mind of not fearing.
2. Forget about what everyone else thinks
"He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away." – Raymond Hull
Although you can’t please everyone, you will disappoint someone. You don’t have to make someone happy. It is their choice. It is your choice in being happy. If you try to fulfill other peoples’ ideas and making them feeling happy when it brings you down, how will you know your true talents and the gifts that God gave you?
a. 1 Corinthians 14:20 – Don’t think like a child, but rather being an adult. We are accustomed to the way
we were brought up and trying to please. Maybe it was a parent that made you feel you were not good
enough. You overcompensate by trying to please everyone to obtain your worthiness. Instead, think like
an adult in that you know you are good enough (2 Thess. 1:5).
b. Philippians 2:3 – Be careful in selfish ambition or vain conceit. People and media try to tell you how to
look, eat, who you are, how to be better and that you are not good enough. These thoughts contribute to
vain. Working hard in trying to fit into the image of others and not into the image of God.
3. Find Solitude.
Today we are bombed with media, radio, internet, cell phone, television, mp3 players, conversations and pressures of life. If you are married there must be a time for your spouse to allow you the room to have solitude. Be doing something for yourself, like a massage, reading, relaxing and rejuvenating your mind. Find time to meditate. If you are single, schedule yourself a time just for you. Allow your friends to watch your children if you are a single parent. We all need to plug into Him to get a recharge.
a. Psalms 37:7 – Be still before God, and wait patiently for Him. This is where He whispers to you. Listen
closely and look.
b. Psalms 46:10 – Be still and know God. Meditation helps to focus by allowing God to direct your steps.
(Proverbs 16:9 man plans course, but God determines the steps).
c. Matthw 14:13 – Several occasion Jesus withdrew and prayed. Often prayer helps us to think aloud. It
provides direction and a reconnection with God through the busy times we are in.
4. Test yourself – Think, Write, Reflect
“People only see what they are prepared to see”—Ralph Emerson
A purpose driven life with vision and goals will help you stay focused. Look internally and examine your motives, thoughts, actions and attitudes. What do you want to do? Where do you want to be? Why do you think these thoughts? When do you want to accomplish? How will you make the best of it? Write out your thoughts. Reflect if this is the route you want to take. This comes natural overtime.
a. 2 Corinthians 13:5 – Test ourselves and examine if our life is the lifestyle of Christ.
b. Romans 12:2 – Renew your mind and thinking. Test it to see if it is the will of God.
c. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 – Examine everything and hold fast to what is good.
d. Galatians 6:4 – Test your works and see if it is worthwhile.
5. Practice and be ready.
Practice your new thoughts. Make good choices and find out what lead to the bad choices. Be ready for dead ends and not grow weary. Find new paths to reach your goal.
a. 2 Peter 1:10—Practice and you won’t stumble.
b. Psalms 37:31—God is holding your hand
Realize that everything is a “YES” in your life.
2 Corinthians 1:19,20 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.
You are worthy. You are unique. Believe in yourself because you were created in the image of God. Find that image again and soon you will be a reflection of Him. Believing in Him, and doing what you believe creates a lifestyle that will provide you a peace that passes understanding. Even through trials you are going through. Finally, instead of asking what is wrong with it, ask what is right about it. Your focus will turn from negative to a positive. Remember, to find yourself it begins in Him.
