Christian Affirmations Displace Unhealthy Thoughts

Proverbs 23:7 tells us, “What ever a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Matthew 12:34 declares, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45 emphasizes, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. So in short, what we think about, we talk about, and what we talk about we manifest, whether good or bad.

For example, you may have difficulty paying your bills on time. You begin to worry about (think or dwell upon) how you are going to make ends meat. You get around your family and friends and all you talk about is how indebted you are. No matter what you do, your debt seems to increase. It becomes a vicious cycle. It’s like the more your think about your problems the bigger it becomes.
You think about lack. (think)
You talk about lack. (speak)
You create lack. (manifestation)

The same holds true when we focus on the negative in our relationships, jobs, friendships, and more. When we dwell on our problems or lack, in reality, we're living in a state of insecurity and fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. The Bible tells us that "without faith it is impossible to please God." Instead, the scripture tell us to speak those things that are not as though they already were. Before something can manifest in the tangible world, it must be created in the spiritual world. That's why Jesus said, whatever we bind on earth is bound in Heaven and whatever we loose on earth is loosed in Heaven. There is a direct connection between what goes on in Heaven and Earth. Everything we see first began with a thought that we nurtured with our attention and words.

If you find yourself battling with the same old bad habits or unhealthy behaviors chances are your mental script needs an overall. If our thoughts control our behavior, then we need to replace unhealthy thoughts with healthy thoughts by focusing on what we want to achieve instead of what we lack. Focusing on lack produces more lack. Therefore, if you are in debt, think about God’s abundance and overflowing blessings in your life. If you are fearful, fill your mind with scriptures or affirmations regarding God’s protection and safety. If you are doubtful, build up your most wholly faith with scriptures attesting to God’s faithfulness. If you are having problems in your marriage, instead of belaboring what your partner doesn’t do, meditate on thoughts that will create a healthy and loving relationship. It will change the way you see your mate. Christian affirmations, if listened to consistently for a period of time, will help you to change the way you think resulting in a change of behavior.

In her book, Discovering Your Purpose, author Ivy Haley states,
"It's difficult to change your behavior unless you change the inner picture. Here you must be diligent and watchful: watchful by staying aware of what's going on in your mind and diligent to deal with negative thoughts by scuttling them and consciously turning your mind to something else. It's possible to change your attitude by refocusing your mind."

Your successes in life all begin with what you believe. There is a phrase that goes something like, “if you think can, you’re right. If you think you can’t, you’re still right.” Several months ago one of my friends found the perfect job for them being advertised. We had been praying that she would find a job she loves, working with people she loves, that paid her well. The problem was she had worked for this company in the past. She felt that they would never rehire her because of some small action she had taken. She had convinced herself not even to apply for the job. I told her that her belief and decision not to apply already sealed her fate. If you don’t get the job, don’t let it be because you didn’t even try. Don’t disqualify yourself before the game has even begun. Well, she took my advice, applied for the job, got the job and absolutely loves it. But how often do we let our fears keep us in our self induced boxes? The only difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful individual is how he or she thinks.

Some advice I heard by a very successful online business entrepreteur still sticks with me today. He said that everyday he does one thing to promote his business that makes him uncomfortable. You know, the dreaded sales call you need to make; the letter you need to mail, or the promotion you need to start. It’s the actions we take that are out of our comfort zone that create the greatest successes. If we do the same, we reap the same. If we want to see change, we need to do something differently and that starts with changing our views about various aspects of your life. Unfortunately, this can be hard to do all by ourselves. If you can’t afford a life coach or mentor, creating affirmations and new self talk that emphasize your goals is a step in the right direction.

God places great emphasis upon the “Word.” Not only did he give it a separate identity by saying “He (the Word) was with God in the beginning, God also made himself synonymous with the Word. We know from scripture that God sustains everything by his Word. Just recently while listening to Revelation 2:16, I was quicken in my spirit when Jesus said to the church in Smyrna, “I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” We create our own circumstances and situations by the words we speak. The e-book,“You’re Already Living the Life of Your Dreams,” points out that the life you’re living right now is the life that you created. If a thought gets in our heart and we begin to talk about it, we’re going to bring that very thing to past.

The logical conclusion is to just stop thinking about what we don’t want to create. Right! Well yes, but for most people, it’s not quite so simple because these thoughts are not passing fancies, they’re actually embedded into our subconscious mind. They have become a part of our mental script. A genuine prayer or conscious act to change may work for a brief moment (remember those New Year’s Resolutions), but within several hours or days the old tape starts running again. According to Haley, we make unconscious beliefs and assumptions about ourselves all the time: This is who I am. I can do this. I can’t do this. People think this about me. This will work. This won’t. Our beliefs are the soil in which we plant the seeds that manifest into our lives. Unhealthy soil creates thrwated seeds and stifled plants. “Give yourself a target and program your mind everyday through explicit, visual messages that this is your actuality,” states Haley. “Our subconscious mind can’t tell the difference between a real experience and one that has been vividly imagined,” she declares.

Affirmations literally help you to change the way you think by changing the content of your soil. The more healthy your beliefs the quicker you’ll reject unhealthy ones.

The success in using affirmations is repetition. You must listen to or read affirmations over and over in your mind until they begin to take root and grow.

When you find yourself dwelling the same troublesome thoughts and depression, anxiety, or other toxic emotions begins to alter your mood, consider creating affirmations that will help you to displace and attack thoughts of doubt and fear. Consider purchasing an affirmation CD that you can play in the background at a low volume while you’re getting ready for work in the morning, at the office, driving in your car, doing your housework, and falling asleep. Before long, the affirmations will become a part of your new mental dialogue. When a destructive or negative thought tries to surface, your mind will automatically affirmed God’s word and it will override your old conditioning. With affirmations, you're not focusing on your old thoughts, you're planting new thoughts that will eventually displace them.