Why are you in despair, O
my soul?... Hope in God… Psalm 42:5
“What an idiot! What’s the
matter with you? Why can’t you do anything right?” You may never dream of saying things like that
to anyone else, but how do you speak to yourself? When you fail. When you disappoint someone. When you’re
depressed, are you your own cheerleader or are you shouting taunts from the
opponents’ stands? Self-talk is
powerful. We tend to believe what we hear, and if we keep hearing negative
opinions—even from ourselves—we start to think they’re true.
When
David was in despair, he talked to himself. But instead of predicting doom and
gloom, he reminded himself that God was with him. When he had no external
reason for hope, he reminded himself that he could hope in God. Instead of
berating himself, he encouraged himself by challenging his depression. When all
seems lost around us, children of God don’t have to despair. We can hope in
God, as David did. Rather than look around, we can look up and our hearts are
encouraged. We need to share that enthusiasm with ourselves and others. When we
speak truth, our hearts begin to believe it. We can hope in God when there is
no other reason to hope, because His plan for us is bigger than right now. Our
self-talk should be too.
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