020: Put Your Thoughts on Trial to Distinguish What’s True

Struggle with negative thoughts, making assumptions or self-criticism? In this episode, Lauren provides a 3-step process for extinguishing the negative voices in your head and distinguishing what's true. Catch your lies and negative thoughts before they lead you down a rabbit hole that affects your mood, your words, your actions and your emotions.

Key points:

3 Steps to Know and Live by the Truth

STEP 1: Take captive the negative

Catch the lies and negative thoughts before they start affecting your mood, your actions or your words.

2 Corinthians 10:5 — “Take captive every thought and make them obedient to Christ.”

Types of thoughts we entertain:

If-Then

•    If my friend cancels on our girl’s night… then it must mean she doesn’t care about me 


•    If my house is a mess… then my life must be a mess.  


•    If I ask someone for help… then I must be weak 


 

If Only…

•    If only I was more like... 


•    If only I was better at... 


•    If only I hadn’t done... 


•    If only I had more... 


 

Because

•    I’m not worthy of God’s blessings because I’m not consistent in my walk with Him 


•    I’m not qualified for a leadership role because I’ve made mistakes in this area before 


•    I am a failure of a wife because I snapped at my husband tonight 


 

What if...

•    What if someone were to break into our house while I’m home alone with the kids? 


•    What if something happens to my husband or my kids? 


•    What if I get sick and can’t take care of my family? 


•    What if the economy crashes and we lose our jobs and our house?

STEP 2: Put your thoughts on trial

Need to distinguish between what’s true and what’s false

There are three key ingredients to a trial:

1. The defendant is innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. 


2. All witnesses vow to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. This is critical, since just pieces of the truth can skew your perception. 


3. There must be enough evidence for all jurors to come to a unified conclusion. 


These thoughts are innocent until proven guilty… or false until proven as truth.

Here are 10 ways to investigate your thoughts and discover the truth:

1. Do a fact check

2. Assume the best

3. Look for the positive

4. Turn to the Bible

5. Pray

6. Turn to the other person

7. Turn to wise counsel

8. Do a background check

9. Look at the big picture

10. Check your perspective

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

STEP 3: You need a fact to act

If your investigation was inconclusive, you have to let it go.

If you found the truth, live in that (even if it means fessing up to your mistakes)

Play the “what if” for the future. What if I reach out to my friend to see if she’s OK? What if I make an effort to view things through other’s perspectives from the start? What if I assume the best?

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”

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