In an age of affirmations

Everyone seems to be preaching affirmations, self-love, positive vibes. What are we, believers, called to do? Christians, should always remember that there is nothing new under the sun. Everything is in the Bible.

Whatever we think upon becomes us. The Bible says that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Prov 23:7). It means that we must be mindful of our thoughts. How do we become mindful of our thoughts?

We must be intentional about what we think about and what we don’t allow ourselves to think about. For instance, you sit in a trotro from one place to another and by the time you get to your destination, you are singing a song you have never heard because it was played in the trotro. You did not intentionally decide to learn it but now you have.

As a result, we must consciously feed our minds with what we want to see in our lives; what we want to reproduce. This means that we must change the way we think. But how do we do that? Repetition. And not just any kind of repetition but meditating on the right things.

The Bible says in Philipians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy – think on these things”.

Now, I ask, is it praise worthy, lovely, of good report to say negative things about yourself? Eg. I am not beautiful, I am poor, I am never good at anything, I am not intelligent etc. Are these things to be meditating on? Because once you keep saying them, you believe them and you become them.

Remember, the Bible also says in Luke 6:45 that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh”. The heart is where we believe. That is why His word admonishes us to “guard our hearts with diligence because from out of it flows the issues of life). Which means what we proclaim about ourselves is what we believe we are. We proclaim it because it has become us.

So, where do we begin from? We must change our language, our words. If God created the world with His words by just speaking forth, and we are in His image (Gen 1:27) and have His breath in us, and He gave us dominion (Gen 1:28; Luke 10:19), then we can use our words too.

Also, He has said that whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven and what we loose on earth is loosed in heaven (Matt 18:18). So, why not use this power to tear down negative thoughts and build up godly ones.

As we declare and meditate on the good, pure, lovely, just things, our minds are renewed. It is a process.
Romans 12:2 says “be not conformed to the standards of this world but be transformed by the RENEWING of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

You can’t repeat it 2 days and stop but you have to do it continuously. That is exactly what the Bible is saying. We can’t just meditate on good things and stop. It has to be daily for the rest of our lives.
If “the devil roams like a roaring lion looking for whom to devour” (1Pet 5:8), someone he might so easily, “kill, steal from and destroy” (John 10:10), then we must always be alert and on guard.

We do this by obeying what God said in Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night. This means ALWAYS.
We must leave no room for the devil (Eph 4:27) to use us.

Therefore, if Christians will go back to the Bible, we will realise that we have nothing to be afraid of because He has told us countless times not be afraid (Ps 37:1,7,8), He says, “For I know the plans that for you. Plans of good and not of evil. Plans to give you a future and a hope”(Jer 29: 11).

If He says “I will go before you and make the crookered paths straight”(Is 45:2), that “no weapon fashioned against us shall prosper and every tongue that rises up against us shall be condemned”(Is 57:17), what else do we need from a God who loved us while we were yet sinners.
If He did not withhold His only son from us, will He not also give us ALL THINGS (Rm 8:32).

We must declare everyday:
I`m the Head and not the tail (Deut 28:13).
I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139:14)
I am a child of God (Gal 3:26).
The blood of the lamb has washed away my infirmities therefore I walk in good health and prosperity (3John 1:2)

So, let’s go back to the Bible.
The word of God is our weapon, our sword (Eph 6:17). There can only be a true paradigm shift if we read it, believe what it says and act on it.

God bless you!