And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Phil 4:8 (NLT)
PHILIPPIANS 4 SERIES – PART 4
In 2012, 1 in 10 people were reported to have depression. Alarmingly the stats are still rising! It’s an epidemic that God never intended for us to live with.
Proverbs 12:25 (NKJV) says “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” The wisdom of Proverbs teaches us that worry, stress, and anxiety CAUSE depression but encouragement, especially with good words turns it around.
With 90% of our thinking being recycled from the day before, it’s no wonder Paul says that we need to “fix” our thoughts – to grab hold of and direct them deliberately – on the good stuff. If we let the pattern run its course, by nature it will degrade into a negative spiral.
There's a study, where low grade students were placed in a class and the teachers were told that the students were top performers. The catch was they needed to be treated like one to achieve their best results. Once the teacher focused in and honed in on what the students could do, and the positive abilities they had, their past results were eclipsed and over 80% went on to be top performers.
We should also avoid dwelling our thoughts on what the facts say about us BUT instead our potential in God should drive our thinking. His thoughts toward us, after all, are good and not evil… to give us a future and a hope!
When you focus on what’s negative, your brain looks for more evidence to confirm that thought. When you focus on what’s true and honourable, right and pure, lovely and admirable, things worthy of praise, your brain looks for more evidence to confirm that too!
If you suffer from the symptoms of depression, don’t be ashamed to seek professional help but couple it with the word of God – a good word – and start fixing your thoughts on that which will make you glad!
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