10 Bible Verses for a Healthy Soul
What does it mean to have a prospering soul? If your physical health was in the same condition that your spiritual health is, how healthy would you be? Vibrant health includes more than the physical condition of our bodies. Are you neglecting the health of your soul in your pursuit of your best life? 3 John 2 shows that as we grow in faith, spiritual blessings overflow into other areas of life. In this post you will find 10 Bible Verses for a healthy soul.
“… In all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”–3 John 2–NASB
How often I get this backwards; I work on increasing health and the practicalities of life, paying attention to my soul only if there is time left over. You know the drill: finish the work, loose the weight, clean the house, make the meal…
We tend to get overly focused on the outward things, skewing our priorities. Maybe it’s a health issue, a broken relationship, or an unmet goal. We do all the doing and then wonder why discontent or weariness buzzes like white noise in the background of our thoughts.
[tweetthis]If your physical health was in the same condition as your spiritual health, how healthy would you be?[/tweetthis]
As I read this tucked-away verse, my breath catches on the phrase, “as your soul prospers.”
Soul prospers.
Dead stop, my attention is on full alert as I sense that God has something to show me.
Taking time to investigate meaning brings the word prosper to life as I savor the nuances that hide between the letters. In this context, prosper has to do with the success of a good journey, as well as to thrive, grow, and increase. Growing in a deeper life with God nurtures a healthy soul.
Yes, this is what we are longing for: to live well, grow, and thrive in the whole of life.
If we only attend to soul matters if there is leftover time, we quickly trip over this truth: time doesn’t come in left-overs.
Nurturing our soul is an intentional choice.
Friend, you are the only one who can make the decision to care for your soul. Others can poke and prod, should and ought, or encourage and nudge, but no one can take care of your interior world but you.
After all, as Dr. Suess says, “”Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”
[tweetthis]Nourish your gifts, thoughts, emotions, dreams, and beliefs through the power of the Holy Spirit.[/tweetthis]
I don’t know about you, in the schedule of the day, this is an easy truth to forget. Soul care gets buried under the pile constantly calling for our attention.
A prospering soul doesn’t happen in a single moment.
The language in this verse points to a journey, step by step as we walk out what it means to believe God.
We navigate the joys and challenges of life with a heart that chooses to love God
in spite of…
instead of…
in light of…
because of…
Each choice becomes a step that moves us either closer or farther away from God. Which direction are you moving these days?
Razor-sharp perception pierces: as the soul prospers, other areas of life increase. This is not the plastic promise of a prosperity gospel. The soul prospering is happening, and John is praying that now health and “all respects” might prosper as well. His prayer is a request for blessing.
[tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#spiritualgrowth”]The soul that prospers is the soul satisfied in God.[/tweetthis]
The prosperous soul is learning to live out of the fullness of God’s Spirit, rather than out of the strivings of the flesh, a self-focused heart.
- The flesh will leave me spent and weary with my soul withering.
- Seeking to enjoy spiritual blessings without trusting in Christ leaves my soul working to prosper, rather than resting to prosper.
- In quiet trust, my soul lays down its self-work, self-ambition, and self-solutions and waits to be filled to all the fullness of Christ.
A prospering soul is the end of encouragement. John Piper writes, “God is most glorified when we are. most satisfied in Him.” This quote points us to the core of a healthy, prospering soul.
This life-giving energy strengthens me—not to solve every issue of life—but to know in greater measure the fullness of Christ. Spiritual growth feeds our soul in a powerful way.
What is the condition of your soul life today?
Are you increasing in soul health? If not, join me as I follow the advice of the One who put the stars in place:
10 Bible Verses to Nurture a Healthy Soul
- “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”–Matthew 6:33 NASB
- “The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”–Psalm 19:7 NASB
- “The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul…”–Psalm 23:1-3 NASB
- “Who is the person who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will dwell in prosperity…”–Psalm 25:12-13 NASB
- “Trust in the Lord and do good; Live in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.”–Psalm 37:3-5 NASB - “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.–Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB
- “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”–Proverbs 16:24
- “And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”–Matthew 22:37 NASB
- “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.–Hebrews 4:12 NASB
- “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”– 1 Thessalonians 5:23 NASB
What can you do today to thrive in your soul How healthy is your soul?
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More Posts to Nurture a Healthy Soul
- 5 Ways to Restore Your Soul This Summer
- Seek First: One Simple Way to Settle Your Soul
- 5 Godly Ways to Care for Your Soul
- 22 Ways to Care for Your Soul
- How to Care for Your Soul: Best Tips from 13 Christian Bloggers
Thrive in Your Soul with Holy Choices
A powerful encouragement for anyone who struggles to overcome anxiety, perfectionism, insecurity, or other mindsets that hold us back. Grow in holiness without the pressure of having everything “just right.” Through gentle encouragement, biblical insights, and applicable ideas you can experience a deeper life of freedom in Christ. Transparently sharing my own struggles, I want to help you live from the reality of hope, healing, and holiness.
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25 Good Habits for the Art of Friendship
Friendship is an art built on good habits of relationships. Learn to be the friend you long to have with 25 ideas for strong relationships. We don’t come into this world know how to be a good friend. If we look for the perfect friend, we won’t find one. We will never be the perfect friend either. Friendship isn’t about perfection; it is about connection–and love, and joy, and giving, and being real, and letting others be themselves.
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The Joy of Friendship
Toes splash in the water as three girls play, sharing hearts and enjoying the day. The joy of friendship radiates from their smiles and rings in their laughter. In this moment, friendship seems an easy gift on a warm summer day.
Though some friendships come easily, most relationships are built over time. I remember days when my girls were small. With a tear-stained face, one asked me, “Why doesn’t Annie like me?”
How do I answer that? I don’t remember what I said exactly, but this little slip of a girl already understood that friendship isn’t always an easy thing.
The Importance of Learning to Be a Good Friend
We don’t enter this world knowing how to be a good friend. A big part of growing up involves learning to be a good friend. Remember all those times you had to tell your kids to share and play nice?
[tweetthis]And in reality, aren’t we all still learning the art of friendship?[/tweetthis]
On our hard days, we may be tempted to focus on disappointments in friendship. The friend that ignored our request, the one who betrayed our trust, or the one who left us out. We’ve all experienced a time when a friend didn’t act like a friend, and that is hard, sometimes heartbreaking. The rejection or betrayal of a trusted friend can wound and isolate us if we let it.
Sometimes those disappointments are what they seem, but others we may not have the whole story. When we shift our focus to being the friend we’d like to have, we begin to love others with our best self. The one that is secure in Jesus and ready to share his love with others. Which one of these ways of friendship creates a deep gladness in your soul? What is one thing you can to do today to be a good friend?
25 Practical Ways to Be a Good Friend
Build strong friendships with these helpful ideas for mastering the art of friendship.
Take the initiative to invite friends to do things rather than wait for someone else.
Be an encourager. Develop the habit of cheering for others and celebrating friends.
Never underestimate the power of laughter and silly fun.
Reciprocate—good friendship is a two-way thing. It can be hurtful to invest in a relationship and not have it reciprocated.
Be reliable—show up and value being on time. Try your best not to disappoint friends who are counting on you.
Follow through. Avoid vague comments, “Let’s get together soon.” Make a specific plan and follow through.
Schedule time for friendship. It is an important part of life and not just a luxury. Stop feeling guilty about spending time with friends. Seriously, stop it!
Be intentional. Don’t let busyness crowd out friendship. The busier you are, the more important it is to plan ahead for time with friends.
Refuse to gossip and find a graceful way to squelch rumors when you hear them.
Keep confidences. When a friend asks you not to repeat information, honor that request.
Share the load. Volunteer to help, to listen, or to console when it is needed.
Be real. Be brave about sharing your needs and struggles when appropriate.
Give the grace-gift of belonging. Welcome newcomers and include others. You may have a set group of friends, but be willing to make room for more.
Sit beside someone you don’t know well rather than always sitting with friends.
Ask good questions that draw others into meaningful conversation. Small talk has it’s place, but sharing our real stories draws people together.
Don’t monopolize conversations or only talk about yourself. Give the gift of a listening ear.
Be thankful—a cherished friend is a gift from God.
Give a thoughtful gift or send a note of encouragement. Texting is great, but old-fashioned snail mail never gets old.
Don’t hide or excuse your mistakes and weaknesses. We all have them.
Avoid the trap of comparison and envy. Recognize these destructive thoughts and get rid of them.
Be careful with expectations. Many feelings get hurt due to unrealistic or unmet expectations. Sometimes we don’t even realize we have them.
Be quick to give and ask for forgiveness. Treat others the way you want to be treated in this difficult area of relationships.
Let go of judgment, comparison, and criticism. Assume good will, giving others the benefit of the doubt.
Pray for your friends and invite Jesus into your relationship. He knows how to be the best friend of all.
Give your friend the biggest piece of cake.(I learned this one from my mama.) And don’t hog the last piece of chocolate…
We may not be able to do all of these things at the same time or keep it up all the time, but we can all do some of these things more often. Friendship is an art built on good habits of relationships. Let this list of practical ideas spark your own list of best practices for building strong relationships.
Which one of these habits has made a difference in your friendships? Which one do you want to work on? Let’s encourage each other through leaving comments today.
Free Resources for a Deeper Life from Ginger
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I’m honored that this post was featured at For Every Mom! I hope you enjoyed this updated version of one of my articles with the highest traffic over the years. For more content on friendship, check out the friendship chapter of my book, Holy in the Moment, or enjoy one of the related posts below. *This is an affiliate link at no cost to you.
More posts on friendship:
Are You Well-Dressed for Friendship?
Three Kinds of Friends You Don’t Want to Do Without
Do You Have the Gift of Girlfriend?
I Give You Permission to Spend Time with Friends
Help for Moments When Anxiety and Worry Get the Best of You
Anxiety and worry can feel overwhelming. This post includes tips to overcome anxiety and worry that have helped me deal with these difficult emotions. We all need encouragement and help when powerful emotions, fearful thoughts, and difficult circumstances get the best of us. Spiritual wisdom, biblical truth, and practical strategies are keys to deepen faith and peace to respond rather than react when anxiety strikes. Be sure to get your free Emotional Health Workbook for processing your emotions.
I roll over in bed and a fearful thought rises to the surface of my consciousness. My heart speeds up and the friction of stress moves from head to my gut. Breathing shallow in the space between sleep and wakefulness, I try to squelch the fear that spirals with every what if my vulnerable mind conceives.
In full on worry-mode, my thoughts turn to problem solving. How to fix, how to make it better, how to make it through. With a heavy heart, I think about a loved one experiencing hard times and uncertain circumstances.
As I become more aware of my thoughts and feelings, I pray, “Lord, help me to trust You. I know You are good, faithful, merciful, and kind.”
Then the next fearful thought bombards my mind and the anxiety hits again.
I’ve learned to get out of bed to break the pattern and change the environment when anxiety surfaces in the night hours. I go downstairs to sit in my favorite chair and read my Bible. From this position, I am more able to release my concerns, hold fast to faith, and calm my frazzled emotions.
In the quiet, Jesus reminds me that worry doesn’t solve anything, bringing a passage from Matthew 6 to my attention.
What Jesus Teaches about Worry and Anxiety
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Mt. 6:25-34).
Our energy is much better spent on seeking and trusting God. This is easy to say, but so hard to do. To not let anxiety get the best of you takes practice. It requires trust, courage, and perseverance. But most of all, peace is found by releasing of our anxieties into the loving hands of our Father.
We Will Have Reasons to Worry
Our days do have trouble, some far more than others. Jesus teaches us that our provision comes from God who knows what we need. God isn’t caught unaware or unprepared. He hasn’t overlooked or missed our pain. Truth can seem disconnected to our troubles when we face the fears that keep us awake at night.
The size and scope of our problems do not negate the faithfulness and power of God. When I worry, I slip into the old habit of verifying the faithfulness of God based on my experience. It is a coping pattern of my flesh that I learned early in life. Anxiousness is like a default setting in my brain–I go there so quickly.
I used to believe that standing firm in faith meant I’d never struggle with anxiousness, as if worry was the blight of spiritual immaturity and weak faith. I lectured and shamed myself for letting anxiety get the best of me.
I thought greater faith would keep me from waking in the night with fear and the worst-case scenarios winding me up tight. So I determined to outgrow anxiety, to shed it like a snake sheds the skin it no longer needs. Someday I will, but not this side of heaven.
I longed for faith to protect me from problems and pain. It simply doesn’t work that way.“Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Mt. 6:34). This statement acknowledges the reality that we will have trouble.
Anxiety steals peace in our hard and painful moments. How does worry impact you? #overcomeanxiety Share on X
Worry and Anxiety are Like a Tennis Match
Over time, and way too much experience with anxious emotions, I’m learning to turn my thoughts and prayers to Father rather than dwell on the what if’s, the unknowns, and the scary possibilities. I wish I could say that it is a once-and-done process, but more often it is more like a tennis match.
Anxious thoughts are like a tennis ball bouncing back and forth over the net, from fear to faith, from worry to trust. Sometimes the enemy lops the ball high and it drops hard. Other times, he serves a fast ball spinning full force.
The more we put our attention on God’s goodness, lovingkindness, faithfulness, and provision, the sooner fear settles down. This power of choosing holy in our anxious moments. When we do, we win the point, but there may come another volley until the match /situation is fully entrusted to God.
Our human bodies are wired with emotions. We will experience the emotions of fear and worry, but growing in faith teaches how to stand firm. Growing in faith helps us to stay in the present as we turn our attention to Christ rather than be overwhelmed by circumstances.
Faith Decisions that Help with Anxiety and Worry:
Anxiety and worry feed off our fear of loss and our desire for control. Let anxiety intensify your dependence on God. Each of these decisions are ways of seeking God, ways of running to Father.
Trust God wholeheartedly rather than try to figure it out on your own. (Pro. 3:5-6)
Pray about concerns with gratitude rather than worry (Phil 4:6-7).
Seek Him first and believe that He will provide. (Mt. 6:33-34)
Set our mind on things eternal. (Col. 3:2)
Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and completer of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
Cast our anxieties on God who cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)
These actions of faith help us deal with anxiety and worry. Friend, if you are anxious about difficult circumstances, a fearful diagnosis, mounting problems, or financial need, I pray these reflections help. Today I simply, and openly, share the conversation of my soul with my God through His word.
Steps to Overcome Anxiety and Worry
Let’s break this down to specific steps that bring God into the negative as we respond in faith rather than react in fear. These strategies help us carry out our decisions of faith.
Notice and process your emotions. Learn from the messages your emotions reveal about what you are believing in this moment.
Feel what you feel without judging, lecturing, or criticizing yourself. If you stuff, discount, or deny your emotions, they will find a way to leak out in ways impact our experience, beliefs, behavior, relationships, and health. Feel it but don’t get stuck in your emotions.
Make the conscious choice to not let your feelings shape what you believe. Hold fast to the truths of God. Experience your emotions, but believe what is true, not what you feel. Look at your situation from the lens of God’s truth rather than look at God from the lens of your experience.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you peace as you release your concerns to God in prayer. Purpose to look for blessings and practice gratitude (Phil. 4:7). It often feels counterintuitive to thank God in the midst of anxiety, but gratitude interrupts the negative thinking that keeps us in anxious patterns. Thanksgiving reminds of of tangible examples of God’s goodness, which can settle our hearts as we release our concerns in prayer.
Speak God’s truth to your soul—read it, say it, declare it, sing it, write it, share it, embrace it, believe it. And then say it again. And again. As many times as it takes.
Be kind to yourself. Understand we all feel anxious at times. Refuse to engage in negative self-talk. Remember that fear is a favorite strategy in the enemy’s spiritual warfare.
Talk through your feelings with a trusted friend or counselor. Talking about concerns can weaken the power of anxious thoughts as we share them aloud with a compassionate listener.
Helpful Questions for Working Through Anxiety, Worry, and Fear
In the emotions chapter of Holy in the Moment, I shared questions that help me work through emotions and stand against anxiety and fear. These processing questions can also help you work through other feelings and thoughts including disappointment, anger, frustration, impatience, discontent, and doubt. When your emotions overwhelm, work through these questions with God. Pray, listen, trust, as you reflect on the following:
In this situation, what am I really thinking/believing?
What need is attached to this feeling? (Our deep needs include love, value, worth, acceptance, and security).
What is true?
Lord, what is this really about? What do you want me to understand?
What do You want me to know about You, Lord? In what area am I not trusting You?
In what way do You want to change me, Lord? What attitude or behavior of my flesh am I choosing instead of You?
Is there a right I need to surrender? A person I need to forgive?
How should I embrace truth in this situation?
These are practical steps to choosing faith over fear and staying present with God in the now rather than worrying about the future. Be encouraged by this loving instruction and promise of God:
‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ (Isaiah 41:10 NASB 1995)
With holy imagination, sense your heavenly Father whispering: You don’t have to be afraid. Stop anxiously looking for answers but look to Me. Remember I am your God. Remember I am with you. Believe that I will help you when your faith gives way to fear. I will hold you up. I am here. (based on Isaiah 41:10)
Hold fast to this beautiful promise of fighting for faith over fear. Make the holy choice to trust God one more time. If music helps settle your emotions, you may enjoy the song, Run to the Father from Cody Barnes.
What does it look like for you to trust God in this moment? Do you know someone that would be helped by this post? Please share on social media and send them a personal note of encouragement as you share this article. We need to support each other when we struggle in the hard times of life.
Would you join me in praying for my loved one? How can I pray for you?
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Want more help for dealing with worry and anxiety? Grab my free Emotional Health Workbook for more help processing your emotions. Get access to my Subscriber Library, free with newsletter sign up. Read the story of my battle with anxiety in the first chapter of Holy in the Moment on the book page. (You’ll find it halfway down under Free Downloadable Resources (no email needed).
Read More Posts on Dealing with Worry and Anxiety:
How Trusting God Helped Me Overcome Worry
How Holy Choices Can Help When You Feel Anxious and Stressed
Why You Should Stop Discounting Your Anxiety
How to Cope with Worry, Anxiety, and Fear
How to Identify and Overcome Negative Thinking
Learn to identify and overcome negative thinking patterns that hold you back. Discover strategies for positive thinking and why it is important. Your mindset is a vital part of who you are, what you believe, and how you live. Mindset has to do with the beliefs and thought patterns that help you make sense of life, learn and grow, make and accomplish goals, and much more. Are you ready to stop stinkin’ thinkin’ in your life?
What is Mindset and Why Does it Matter?
Different from personality and attitude, mindset impacts how we feel about ourselves and others. How we think and what we believe impacts every area of life including health, relationships, work, habits, beliefs, and faith.
Have you ever tried to turn off your mind when your thoughts are racing faster than a dog chasing a squirrel? Some scientists report that the average person thinks 48.6 thoughts per minute, and around 70,000 thoughts a day. Mercy that’s a lot of thoughts, isn’t it! Your mindset is more than the total thoughts that run through your mind.
Mindset is formed by the general focus, quality, and character of your thoughts. It is vital to understand that we have a choice about what we set our minds on. The Bible tells us to set our mind on things above, to not loose sight of the eternal when we live in the temporal.
The Bible tells us to “Set your minds on the things that are above, not the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2).
This instruction is so easy to just pass right over. Too often I give it a mental nod, and then keep getting wrapped up in what’s going on around me. To set our minds takes intention, effort, and faith. It doesn’t happen by accident. When we keep God‘s perspective in view, we see today differently.
We see others differently. We see ourselves differently.
Think About What You are Thinking About
What has been your overall mindset lately? What do you think about most? Are your thoughts generally positive or negative? I’m not talking about the onsie’s and the twosie’s. I’m referring to the thought patterns that have become habitual.
What is the default setting that is the first to show up unless you intentionally reset your thought? When we pay attention to our mindset we can see the general direction our thoughts take us:
Self or others?
Focusing on problems or resting in faith?
Frustrated or joyful?
Complaining or content?
Depending on self or relying on God?
Listening to lies or holding fast to truth?
Worldly or godly?
Toxic or healthy?
Critical or kind?
For me, this is an “ouchy” subject. I have to admit that my thoughts veer negative in the default settings of my brain in several of these areas. How about you?
Pray for God to Help You Identify Your Thought Patterns
As you reflect on the trend of your thoughts, what is God highlighting to you? If you’re not sure, here are a few verses that are helpful to pray for God to help you see what’s really going on in your head and your heart:
“Search me, God, and know my heart;
Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there is any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.”–Psalm 139:23-24
Have you ever invited God to help you go deeper into what you’re thinking and why? It’s so important to remember the truth that God loves and forgives you. There’s so much to say about how we view God, that I’ll save that for another day. For now, just grab hold of this truth and don’t let go:
“See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God.” –1 John 3:1
Consider how Romans 12:2 relates to the importance of our mindset.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”–Romans 12:2 ESV
There is a reason Paul gave this instruction to the Roman church–they were struggling with their mindset.
The philosophies, values, and shifting trends of our culture can shape our thinking if we aren’t careful. With the explosion of information and public discourse in this digital age, we are more vulnerable than ever for our thinking to be shaped by the world around us.
God transforms our minds, but we have an important part of the process.
One of my favorite quotes on mindset is from Watchman Nee. He wrote, “No life can be truly changed apart from a change of mind.”
Are you seeking change, improvement, progress, or healing in some area of your life? Transformation will not bypass your mind.
If we want to behave differently, we need to begin to think differently. #mindsetmatters Share on X
How to Identify Negative Thought Patterns
A pattern is a trend, a tendency, or a habit. We’ve just talked about recognizing whether our general mindset is positive or negative. Learning to stop negative thinking takes time.
Let’s take this deeper. How do we identify negative thinking that has become a pattern in our lives? For me, learning a little vocabulary expands my understanding to be able to identify types of distorted thinking.
10 Common Negative Thinking Patterns
Rita Schulte’s book, Think This, Not That provides a valuable list of thought patterns that distort our perspective and ignite difficult emotions. I also shared this list in the post “Strategies and Scriptures to Combat Negative Thinking.”
Should, must, ought to be, and have to be statements: These inflexible beliefs are based on misperceptions and can lead to anxiety, depression, self pity, anger, and guilt.
Jumping to conclusions, mind reading, and fortune telling (thinking we know what will happen): These patterns interpret situations and outcomes based on distortions, fears, and beliefs.
Overgeneralization: This cognitive distortion happens when we assume that because something happened one way it will always happen that way. We can recognize this thinking pattern by words like never, always, and everyone.
Personalization: When we see things as our fault without recognizing other contributing factors, we are personalizing. People who personalize see the issue as something wrong with themselves, a character flaw or deficit. It often cycles into personal name calling (I’m an idiot, I’m a loser, I’m unloveable) and self-condemnation.
Disqualifying the positive: Schulte explains this pattern, “Disqualifying the positive is a way we overestimate a negative outcome and minimize our ability to cope with difficult situations. We reject our positive experiences, or our strengths, and we focus instead on the negative aspects of our situation or our character” (p.97).
Catastrophizing: Imagining the worst and blowing things out of proportion are typical of catastrophizing thoughts. This kind of thinking provokes anxiety, focusing on what if’s and fears.
Emotional reasoning: Interpreting negative feelings as truth is a destructive pattern of unhealthy thinking. I feel unworthy becomes a belief that I am unworthy. I wrote a lot about this pattern in Holy in the Moment.
All or nothing thinking. This pattern moves from one extreme to another, not recognizing the middle ground between. For example, feeling inadequate may lead to the belief I must be perfect or I’m a total failure.
Externalizing: The opposite of personalizing, externalizing blames others or situations without acknowledging any role or responsibility in the issue. We find a biblical example of externalizing when Jesus asks, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3).
Magnifying/minimizing: Making a mountain out of a molehill is a type of magnifying thoughts. On the opposite extreme is minimizing situations, feelings, pain, problems, offenses. Again, Dr. Schulte helpfully explains the problem with minimizing: “Here you shrink the importance of things, such as your feelings when you’re hurt, saying they don’t really matter, for one reason or the other. This is often known as the martyr complex. Comparing yourself or what you’re going through with what someone else is feeling is another way to open the door for minimizing. It’s healthy to feel your feelings when you have them. Minimizing does your pain a disservice” (p.101).
Is your brain exploding yet? I know this is a lot to take in. Stay with me because it is worth the effort to identify and overcome negative thinking patterns that keep us stuck and hold us back for the healthy and holy life God has for us! It’s worth the effort and you are worth the effort.
Don't let toxic thinking patterns derail you from living in the freedom and wholeness of your identity in Christ. Share on X
How to Break Negative Thinking Patterns
Choose one thought pattern to address.
Identifying the toxic patterns that shape our mindset is important. It is the first step on the path of change and transformation. But here’s the thing–taking the first step doesn’t get us to the destination.
Maybe the first step is all you’ve got bandwidth for today. That’s okay, friend. I’ve been there. If that’s you, do yourself a favor. Save this post and come back to it when you are ready to move forward.
Steps to Healthy and Positive Thinking
Ask God to help you choose one negative thinking pattern to address. Transformation is God’s specialty, and it doesn’t happen unless he is part of the process. (Romans 12:1-2).
Write the healthy pattern you want to practice, and post your reminder where you will see it frequently.
Schedule a time with God to pray and reflect on the root and the why of this pattern. Here are a few questions to pray about: What do you want for me to know about this? When did I begin to have this type of thought? What emotions and behaviors does this pattern lead me to? What kinds of response do I usually have to this kind of thought? How is this pattern impacting my physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual health?
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you catch yourself in the moment when you slip into this one pattern. Don’t try to address them all at once. Keep it simple with small steps forward. Awareness opens the door to making a better choice.
Begin the holy habit of bringing your thought to Christ and ask him to help you. “We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Evaluate what is really true rather than jumping to conclusions. Look at the bigger picture in the situation. Give time to see the situation or thought in light of what is true according to God’s Word. Is it really true that you “always get it wrong”? Is it true that the situation is 100% the other person’s fault? Is it true that things “never” work out for you?
Choose not to dwell on the negative thought. A thought may come to the door of your mind, but that doesn’t mean you have to invite it in. And you certainly don’t have to serve it dinner or let it move in! In Holy in the Moment, I wrote that you are the doorkeeper of your mind. God has given you the ability to reject a thought. Sometime’s I think and pray: “I don’t want to think this negative thought. I shut the door on it. Lord, please help me choose to think about this in a healthier and more positive way.”
Practice choosing a better thought pattern when you aren’t under pressure. When you’ve got some down time, practice better ways to reframe a negative thought pattern. Then begin practicing in the moment the Holy Spirit brings a negative thought pattern to your awareness.
Trust God to do the work of transforming your mind as you cooperate in the process. Be patient with yourself. Renewing your mind takes time. Rely on the Holy Spirit’s help to do what you can’t do. Overtime, you will build new patterns of healthy thinking.
Consider what life will look like when you overcome this negative thought pattern.
You can do this, friend! I believe in you and so does God. Are you ready to get started? The very best place to start is in prayer. Invite God to go through the steps in this post and begin today. What negative thinking pattern do you need to address today?
If negative thinking is a challenge for you, I’ve got a free resource for you in my Subscriber Library. Overcome Negative Thinking for a Deeper Life features more strategies, encouragement, and 50 Scriptures to combat toxic thoughts in your life. Reflect and pray about one verse each day as you practice the strategies in the book and in this post.
A Few of the Spiritual Growth Resources in the Subscriber Library.
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More Posts to Overcome Negative Thinking
Why Positive Thinking is Good for a Healthy Body, Soul, and Spirit
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Are Your Feelings Defining Your Faith
10 Free Resources for an Emotionally Health You
20 Toxic Ways of Thinking That Will Poison Your Life
3 Reasons Why You Should Let Go of Negative Thinking
Strategies and Scriptures to Combat Negative Thinking: With Free E-book
14 Things I’d Say to My Younger Self About Being a Mom
Tips and truths learned from experience in parenting. Experience is the best teacher, and these are the things I’d say to my younger self about being a mom. Parenting tips, encouragement and wisdom for moms is vital to the parenting journey.
The Challenge of Being a New Parent
“My how time flies” is one of the. most common parenting quotes I’ve heard and said. When I remember what it was like to be a new parent it is like entering a time warp. How can twenty-eight years pass so quickly? The little boy (isn’t he cute?!) in the photo above is now 28. Twenty-eight years of joy, hard work, love, challenge, and many blessings.
Remembering the Day I Became a Mom
In my last post, I shared the story of my first day as a mom. How I sat on the hospital bed in a puddle of tears. Tears of exhaustion, wonder, overwhelm, and fear. I remember thinking, “When I checked into the hospital a few days ago, I was just me. Now I am a mother. I’m leaving the hospital with a baby and a car seat that I’m not quite sure how to work.”
“What if I can’t do this? I have no idea how to be a parent.” The baby class taught us how to change a diaper and give a bath, but somehow this just isn’t enough preparation to bring a baby home from the hospital.
A few days later my mother in law, the baby pro, came to help out. She raised four boys and walks on water. I tried to learn everything about being a parent in those two short weeks.
I begged her not to leave.
Though parenting is one of the great joys in life, we can struggle under the weight of responsibility. If I could go back and sit on that hospital bed with my twenty-seven-year-old self. I’d bring a big cup of coffee, a pound of chocolate, and an extra dose of encouragement. And I would pass along a few things I’ve learned along the way.
Things I’d Say to My Younger Self About Being a Mom
You can do this. You don’t have to be an expert to begin the parenting journey. You will learn and grow far more than you can imagine at this moment. You can do lot’s of mommy things and you have wisdom in your heart. You are stronger than you know.(Philippians 4:13).
Trust God to grow you into the best parent you can be. Parenting isn’t just for raising children–it is also for growing up parents. Never forget that God has entrusted you with children and will help you where you struggle if you will seek Him diligently (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Pray every day. Pray for your children, for your parenting, and your marriage daily. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray and give you wisdom (Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 8:26).
Teach your children to love God and live by His word. [tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#parentingtips #parentingadvice”]No one can teach your children the blessing of following God like you can. [/tweetthis] Keep His words in your heart and in your conversation. Read them Bible stories and point out God’s faithfulness in the little things each day (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
Be willing to wait. Today is not the end of the story. Some days and phases seem to inch along. Your baby will sleep through the night someday. The days of tantrums will pass. There will come a day when your child no will longer cling to your leg or grab hold of your shirt with messy hands. All the hard things will pass as you both grow through them. Be willing to wait and let nurture, time, and wisdom do its job. Some days may seem long, but the years are short. (Galatians 6:9)
Find a godly mentor mom. Build a friendship with a more experienced Christian mom. These moms will encourage and advise you, helping you to overcome challenges and grow in faith. God is going to put some amazing women in your life to help you along the way (Titus 2:3-5).
Set realistic goals and expectations. Even though your child watches Baby Einstein videos, they probably won’t learn algebra before preschool. Many frustrations of parenting come when we expect a two year old to have the self-control of a five year old. Unrealistic expectations frustrate kids as well (Ephesians 6:4).
Don’t let nagging, complaining, or whining become the norm in your family. Negative attitudes are contagious and can become bad habits. Both kids and adults can struggle with these unpleasant behaviors. Never forget encouraging words empower our children (Philippians 2:14).
Laugh often and let yourself play. Make the most of your days and enjoy the little blessings along the way. Master the art of building with blocks, cherish the hilarious things kids say, and put on a ballet tutu and twirl. It’s easy to get bogged down with chores, tasks, attitudes, and stress. Find joy in the small ordinary moments with laughter and play (Proverbs 17:22).
Don’t underestimate the importance of rest. Tired children are cranky kids, and weary mommies get fussy too. Exhaustion warps perspective, making small problems seem like the end of the world. Don’t buy into lie that your child doesn’t need a regular bed time. Nap time is a blessed space; keep a rest time in your schedule even after your child stops sleeping during naps. Physical rest is important and spiritual rest is too. (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Frequently evaluate your schedule, routines, and discipline. Do you need to reset boundaries, add a new challenge, simplify a crazy schedule? Undo chaos in your home is generally a sign you need to reset. Make adjustments as the need arises.
Don’t neglect discipline and training. You are the parent, it’s your job to say no when needed and to enforce wise rules (Hebrews 12:11). Teach your children manners and model kindness. (Ephesians 4:32).
Enjoy your kids every day. You will never have this day, this age again. Don’t let the hard moments cloud joy and appreciation of the gifts you have. Build the habit of seeking joy each day. Find something to appreciate, smile, laugh, or relish daily. A joyful heart creates energy and gives perspective.
Your kids are amazing and so are you. Crafted by God, each one of us are made in His image. Enjoy the special qualities of your children and marvel at the wonder of God at work in their lives. (Psalm 139:13-16).
To quote the great philosopher, Winnie the Pooh, “The smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” Make the most of each day as you love your children in the countless ways that best come from you, that special woman called Mommy. There is life, love, and wisdom that are your precious mother’s gift to your children. Each and every day look for the extraordinary in the small joys and little miracles that fill your life. After twenty-eight years as a mom, these truths still guide my choices and encourage my heart.
For more tips and truths I’ve learned about parenting, check out the parenting chapter of my book, Holy in the Moment: Simple Ways to Love God and Enjoy Your Life. Learn more on Amazon or on my book page.
You can find all the scriptures from this post listed here and here.
More Encouragment for Moms
10 Bible Verses to Encourage Moms When They Need it Most
Powerful Truth Gives Direction For Our Children
Letting Them Go: Faith Prayers For Our Children
Frazzled Mom, Don’t Forget to Enjoy the Journey
Mom-i-Tude Adjustment for Frazzled Moms
Mom, It’s Okay to Cry When You Leave Your Child at College
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What Is Spiritual Rest and Why Do We Need It?
What is the meaning of spiritual rest and why is finding rest for our soul important? Spiritual rest is easy to overlook until we face the burnout of mental, emotional, or physical exhaustion. Worry, anxiety, anger, frustration, bitterness, unforgiveness, and stress burden our souls. Different from self-care, soul care restores our spirit, empowering us to experience peace and perseverance when we face challenges.
What Does it Mean to Rest in Jesus When You are Weary?
The alarm buzzes me awake long before I’m ready to rise. Getting out of bed, I do a Zombie walk to the bathroom.
Feeling behind before I begin, a mental to-do list moves through the Rolodex in my head as I brush my teeth. Before I’ve gotten dressed, I worry about a family member’s health, a friend’s grief, and meeting a big goal at work. “Where is the line between concern, worry, and faith?” I ask the Lord as I finish getting ready for the day. The weight of worry makes me feel heavy and tired.
How about you? Do you need spiritual rest? Do you need to find ways to lighten the load of worries and concerns?
We all need times of rest. A rest routine--is needed to keep body, soul, and spirit healthy and happy. #spiritualrest #soulrest Share on X
Spiritual Rest Versus Self Care
Practicing spiritual rest, or soul rest, helps us bear the weight of life’s challenges. For me, emotional and mental weariness is harder to overcome than physical tiredness. When I’m weary, I often default to self-care rather than making time for soul care.
Have you considered the difference between soul rest and self-care? These two concepts often overlap. When we need rest, we tend to think about self-care or even self-comfort solutions. Self care has to do with caring for our physical, mental, and emotional needs. Soul care happens when we trust Christ with our needs, relying on his presence and help to sustain us. Here’s a few self-care things I gravitate to:
“I need to get more sleep.”
“If I eat healthier I’ll have more energy.”
“Lunch with the girls is what I need.”
“I can’t wait to chill out and watch my show on Netflix.”
It’s easy to binge-watch a show to fix our exhaustion. Though I enjoy watching a good show, it doesn’t solve the problem of needing rest for my soul. It’s easy to escape our challenges by vegging out in front of the TV or scrolling social media. The uncertainty of world events, political shifts, racial strife, and working from home creates weariness from the stress of extended loss and change.
Escaping from problems or distracting ourselves
isn’t self-care or soul care.
Self-care is necessary and important, but it doesn’t always meet the need of soul care. The burdens of life can overwhelm, making us anxious, frustrated, discouraged or depressed (to name a few). Soul care brings mental, emotional, and spiritual rest, which is different from physical rest.
What Does the Bible Say about Spiritual Rest?
The Bible has a lot to say about rest. In fact, the Bible mentions rest 548 times. One of my favorite passages is Matthew 11:28-30. Offering an invitation to experience soul rest, Jesus, our God with skin on, understands both the physical and the soul need for rest.
Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light. (NASB)
Have you wondered what it means to be yoked with Jesus?
This isn’t the kind of language we use in modern culture. The idea of a yoke may seem unfamiliar and unrelated to your life. Oftentimes we approach this verse as finding relief from our burdens. Jesus invites us to something much deeper than feeling better; he wants to teach us to live better.
To live and to work connected to Jesus is the way of a restored soul. Share on X
Spiritual rest is the rest of faith, the ability to remain connected to Christ as we live and work with Him.
Here’s a little nugget from the “Moments to Rest “chapter in my book, Holy in the Moment.
Jesus offers to help us carry the burdens of life in this vivid illustration. This passage is about more than simply giving Christ the struggles and challenges that weigh heavy on our hearts.
Three Actions of Spiritual Rest
To drill down to the core message of Matthew 11:28-30, we find these three actions:
Come to Jesus.
Take His yoke.
Learn from Jesus.
This way of living is not a quick-fix solution to our troubles. Jesus invites us into a life of companionship where we walk and work with him moment by moment.
We find spiritual rest when we remember his presence and rely on his resources. Staying yoked enables us to be present with Christ. In the moment, we make choices to trust his experience, provision and leadership. Every choice to believe, abide, surrender, and trust creates moments of soul rest from the burdens of strife, worry, comparison, frustration, and so many other mental and emotional challenges.
We all have a variety of responsibilities that we carry in this life. How we carry them makes the difference between thriving in life versus feeling driven and overwhelmed. Staying connected to Christ also relieves us of feeling alone in our burdens.
Learning from Jesus Helps Us Experience Rest
One day I was having my quiet time, listening and meditating on this very same passage. The Lord dropped a question in my mind, “Who’s yoke are you carrying?” In this moment, Jesus taught me something important. This simple question relieved the emotional weariness I felt.
It was an aha moment of clarity. I was weary and discouraged by trying to carry the burden of things that really weren’t mine to carry. I realized I was carrying the burden of outcomes beyond my control.
I needed to trust Jesus because he is able to bear the responsibility of the outcomes. Have you ever found yourself taking responsibility for something that’s not yours to carry? This can be, a particular temptation for wives and moms when the lines between our responsibility and the decisions of others blur.
For example, we teach our children values, but we cannot make them embrace those truths. We can teach them what is right, but they make their own decisions about what they do and what they believe.
The old saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” gets at the futility of carrying the burden of results beyond our control.
Identify the Burdens that Weary Your Soul
That morning I did a soul check: what are the things that aren’t mine to carry that I need to entrust the Lord? This is a great exercise. What burdens do you carry? Are you carrying them with Christ or trying to shoulder them on your own? Are they burdens that really aren’t yours to carry?
Depending on Christ involves trusting him with the work, process, and outcome. It is the choice to trusting him with the moment, even when the moment looks pretty messy. It was amazing how recognizing what I was was doing restored my soul. I sighed with relief as I released my concerns to Christ.
I appreciate the way that Eugene Peterson has expressed Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to me, get away with me and you’ll recover your life.” Soul rest has to do with recovering life and vitality that only comes through Christ. (In my last blog post you’ll find a downloadable list of verses on the resurrection life we have in Christ).
Peterson expresses some of the nuances of soul rest. Invite the Lord with a simple prayer, “Lord, I rely on you in this moment to give me wisdom and help I need.”
And it’s that quick friends, the shift of our attention to rest in the Lord and to release our burden to the Lord. This is one way of living in the “unforced rhythms of grace.” Soul rest happens as we depend on Jesus to help, teach, and guide–walking and working, together.
Practical Ways to Find Rest for Your Soul
There are many ways to experience spiritual rest. Consider a few that have been most helpful to me:
Ask God to examine your heart and then confess any sin that he reveals. Keep a short account with God, responding when the Holy Spirit convicts us sin.
Trust God with the people you care about. Can I get an amen on this one? Many of the things that burden my soul involve worrying about the people I care about. Bearing the weight of how it turns out for someone else creates a lot of stress. I need to trust the Lord with my loved ones because God is faithful and working in their life. How much of our weariness comes down to the fact that we’re not trusting God?
Discover the freedom of forgiveness. Harboring offenses is one of the heaviest burdens we can carry. Forgiveness turns the situation and the offender over to God to deal with. When we forgive, we actually lighten our own load, taking care of our own soul. In our hurt, we may view forgiveness as letting somebody off the hook, a way of inferring that what they did was okay. Friend, that’s not biblical forgiveness. Biblical forgiveness acknowledges the sin, charges the debt, states what it cost. This process prepares us to pray, “I trust you with this person and situation. I choose to forgive them because you have forgiven me.”
Pray when you feel weary and burdened. “Lord, what do you want me to know about this burden? Is there something that you want me to see, something you want me to understand about this? Help me to turn this problem over to you. Show me how to pray about this problem.” Sometimes that’s where we need to begin. When we’re not quite sure how to turn something over to the Lord, ask for his help.
Rest the outcome of your efforts and God’s capable hands and release the stress of performance. Give God the outcome of your effort. He can relieve us of the weight of worry because God didn’t intend for us to face our problems alone.
Trust doesn’t mean that Jesus will give you the perfect answer in the moment or solve your problems in a snap. It does mean that he’s with you in the moment and you’re working together, yoked together. Spiritual rest comes as we depend on Christ. Letting go of the weight of worry, you can trust him with the outcome, even if the outcome isn’t the one that you envisioned. What helps you find rest for your soul?
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Grab this Checklist for More Habits of Rest
Do you need more rest in your life? Discover the benefit of building small habits to decrease stress and empower you to rest body, soul, and spirit. After all, rest includes so much more than sleep. Don’t miss the free printable Habits of Rest Checklist to help you create rhythms of rest in your life. Make your personalized plan to get the rest you need.
Check Out the Restore My Soul Series
This post is one of a series. Don’t miss the rest of the series for more inspiration to help you experience the wonder of Jesus restoring your soul.
How Rest and Solitude Restore Your Soul After Stress and Loss
Why You Should Trust Jesus for the Rest You Need
15 Habits of Rest to Improve Your Life
The Good in Good Friday: 17 Powerful Verses on the Resurrection Life of Christ
What in the world was good about Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified on the cross? The message of Good Friday leads us to Easter as we embrace the power of the resurrection of Christ. Don’t miss the free printable list of 17 verses on the resurrection life Jesus gives us in this Easter devotion (no email needed). My Easter gift to you!
The term Good Friday juxtaposes the suffering of our sinless Savior bearing our punishment. What happened on Good Friday is the death of Christ. There is so much that is not good about this day thousands of years ago when the sky turned black and Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” How can such pain be good?
The meaning of Good Friday is found in the truth that Jesus “bowed his knee and his heart to the will of His Father. He changed history and how we understand true love.” These are the words that greeted my first thing this Good Friday as my phone buzzed with this text message from my friend Cynthia Thomas, a prayer partner, friend, and fellow writer.
The salvation Jesus accomplished for us is the deep good in this terrible day long ago. It was profoundly good when the “ground shook, the power of the blood was released, demons trembled, captives were freed, believers were healed, the veil was split in two from the TOP to the bottom and man was reconciled to God…Yes indeed, He changed history and revealed LOVE.” This is the responding text from Mary Richard, another blessed soul in our trio of prayer that moves between the hearts of Jesus-hearted friends.
More good about this day is the truth that Sunday is coming.
That good Easter morning.
In the Easter story in the Bible we read that on that first Easter morning the women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Hearts heavy with grief, they approached the tomb to find the stone rolled away.
Thoughts and emotions tangled and fought to make sense of the inexplicable. They entered into the tomb to discover His body was gone as two men appeared:
While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.”–Luke 24:4-6a
Words that changed the course of history and announced the reality of the resurrection of Christ, resound in our hearts on Easter. Joy pulses through voices echoing through the ages, “He has risen, He has risen indeed!”
We are saved by His life—this is the meaning of Easter and the grace of God.
The meaning of the word save includes “to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction.” Zoe, the Greek word for life is one of my favorite words in Scripture. Zoe is “the of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God” and is also described as “life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed,” and eternal. It is a quality of life that only comes through the pain of Good Friday with the death and resurrection of Jesus.
A practical way of living in the power of Christ’s life.
This Easter, let’s embrace this life we receive from Christ as more than a spiritual concept. Let’s embrace His life as both our holy identity in Christ and a practical way of living. Learning to live whole and healed is the saving life of Christ working in and through us. Through His life, we learn to think, act, feel like we are (our identity in Christ). Each choice to rely on Christ is the blessing and freedom of holiness.
We often worship Christ as our Savior and our Lord, but how often do we rejoice in the truth that He is our life? Here are two quotes from books that have increased my practical understanding of wonder of Christ’s life at work within us:
“Living in grace means that we express His life as a natural and normal part of our daily experience. We live trusting Him to express Himself through us every day.” Grace Walk, p. 174
“Christ lives in you. It is not your striving that releases Christ’s life through you. It is your trusting. Just say, “Lord, Your Holy spirit is showing me this truth. I embrace it by faith, just like I embraced Jesus for me by faith and experienced forgiveness of my sins. I now embrace Jesus in me as my life. Teach me, convince me of this truth by the Holy Spirit, so that I won’t be captive any longer to trying to produce the life myself.” The Rest of Gospel p, 62
Powerful verses about the resurrection life of Christ:
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate Easter, let the following Scriptures create space for worship and reflection on the resurrection life we have in Christ. Embrace the good of this Friday as you prayerfully consider these truths. Thank God for the eternal life that is yours in Christ. Whether you work through the verses all at once or savor one verse each day, I know Jesus will speak life to your heart as you embrace these truths. (Click here for a printable version of these verses. No email needed.)
The words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. John 6:63
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.-John 1:1-4
Everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.-John 3:15-16
I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly. -John 10:10
Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.-John 14:6
In Him we live and move and exist. . .-Acts 18:28
What in the world was good about Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified on the cross? This Easter embrace the power of the resurrection life of Christ. Don't miss the free printable list of verses. Share on X
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.–Romans 6:4
For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.-Romans 6:23
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.–Romans 8:11
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.–2 Corinthians 5:17
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.--Galatians 2:20 Share on X
Be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.–Ephesians 4:23-24
In Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings. . . -Colossians 2:10-13
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. . .-1 Peter 1:3
He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.-1 Peter 2:24
By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.-1 John 4:9
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.–1 John 5:11-13
Click here for a printable download of these verses.
A deeper relationship with God comes through relying on the life of Christ within us moment by moment. Let’s help each other to practice a life-giving way of life with God. Which of these verses is God speaking to your heart today? Happy Easter, friend!
More Easter Devotions and Posts
Hope Rises: An Easter Poem
Easter Will Not Be Cancelled: The Unstoppable Joy of the Resurrection
4 Worshipful Ways to Remember the Resurrection Every Day
Family Traditions Create Special Moments
Days in Jerusalem: Pictures of the Wailing Wall and the Garden Tomb
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How Holy Choices Can Help When You Feel Anxious and Stressed
Ready to discover how to experience healing and wholeness by relying on Christ in your daily moments? What could happen in your life if you choose to live fully in your holy identity in Christ, trusting God to provide in this moment as it is? Celebrating the book birthday of my award-winning Christian-living book, Holy in the Moment, I’m sharing the personal story of what I learned in my battle with anxiety + giveaway included! (Be sure to enter to win at end of this post).
Holy in the Moment includes my personal journey in finding help and hope for worry, people-pleasing, perfectionism, discouragement, and insecurity. Packed with biblical insights and practical ideas to enjoy a deeper life in Christ, this book has helped thousands of women overcome fear to thrive in the freedom of holiness.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The year we moved to California is the year I thought I was going crazy. This was the year that I learned that faith is both a gift and a decision rather than an emotion.
It was a year of choosing holy in the hard . Since we’ve all had a hard year, I thought I’d share an excerpt from Holy in the Moment. In light of all we’ve faced this year, the simple ideas and soul encouragement in this book can empower us to experience deeper peace, strength, and faith.
Truth is, we all face challenges in this broken world and there are moments when life is hard. Really hard. As we reach the one-year mark of the pandemic that has turned our world upside down and redefined the word “normal” in terms of our daily lives, we’ve all faced many challenges that can take a toll on our emotional health. I’m guessing that you’re like me, longing to ditch your mask and for life to return to normal. Am I right?
Many of us are dealing with some level of grief, whether due to the loss of loved ones, the loss of opportunities and celebrations, the loss of jobs, or simply the loss of normal. For instance, we watched our daughter get married on Zoom due to closed borders with Canada. Though we are thrilled she married an amazing young Canadian, we never imagined not being present for the ceremony! (That’s a story for another day). With uncertainty and the fear-mongering of 24-hour news cycles and the division of national issues, stress and anxiety invade our lives more than we’d like. Can you relate? Right now we can all use some do-able ideas to strengthen our faith and soothe our hearts.
We need the practical power of holiness.
Back to the year I thought I was going crazy. . .
Book Excerpt from Holy in the Moment
Holiness inhabits the small things, faith for our moments, simple and short. Added together, holy moments change lives and steer destinies in God’s direction. But it all comes down to attitudes and choices made . . . one moment at a time.
It’s during the storms of life that faith solidifies into more than a concept. How do we choose holiness on days when believing God is hard?
Holiness Strengthens Us Trust God in the Moment
I sat in a stark, utilitarian green office, checking on lab results. “No one called you?” asked a frantic nurse. She explained that my thyroid test (several months old) indicated I had Grave’s Disease, a hyperthyroid autoimmune disease. Instantly my mind snapped to high alert as I told the nurse, “I’m moving across the country in three weeks. We’re a military family with three small children. We don’t get to choose when or where we move. I can’t be sick now.”
Maybe I hoped the nurse would say something to take the problem away. Something like, “You’re right, this isn’t a good time for you. Let’s reschedule this problem for another time.” Our thoughts don’t always make sense, do they?
I don’t have time to be sick.
I didn’t matter. We don’t get to schedule challenges at our convenience.
Tested and diagnosed, I was treated with lightning speed. Just take a little pill to slow my thyroid down. Maybe this won’t be too bad, I thought as packers loaded the moving truck. We drove 3,000 miles with three young kids buckled into our over-loaded van. As the miles ticked by, I prayed everything would be okay.
Holiness is Faith is for This Moment
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). We need now-faith for all of life’s moments—the good and the bad. Hope is not wishing; though we often feel like faith is nebulous as cotton candy, whips of air held together with sugarcoated wishes. Just have enough faith and you can conger up whatever you want, our misconceptions whisper.
Don’t we chide ourselves to try harder?
Faith doesn’t come by trying harder.
I’ve made that mistake many times and it only leads to discouragement. Have you ever been tempted to think you must act better and perform the right spiritual tricks—as if God is only moved to work in a life if the faith is good enough? Yes, me too!
That puts it all on us, doesn’t it?
Assurance grounds faith in reality—that which has actual existence. It is a steady-minded believing with confidence, courage, and firm trust. There’s nothing maybe-ish about faith.
Faith is a gift from God, not some secret power we must manufacture on our own. Faith is inseparably tied to the power and holiness of God. #christianfaith #overcominganxiety Share on X
In the Greek, power is translated dynamis, which is God’s power for creating life, performing miracles and righting the crooked soul. This is power we need for all of our right now-needs. Every single one.
Choosing faith begins with the holiness of God, not on our ability to harness faith and make it go our way. Faith to believe begins and ends in the rightness of God—His way of doing and being right. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
A Simple Choice When We are Anxious and Stressed
Here’s the simple decision of a moment: to believe or not, to trust or not.
We make thousands of choices every day. It only takes a moment to respond with now-faith and discover more of God. Holiness is quietly accomplished as we receive the life of Christ in this now-moment.
God graciously stirs up more faith when we embrace and live out the faith we currently hold in our hearts. Step by step and choice by choice we can walk into greater faith and wholeness. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). In this small three-letter word, but, is the choice of the moment.
We can choose the wholeness of believing God, faith for every moment. Or the buts can become excuses and questions turning our eyes away from God’s power and presence.
I experienced this mentally, physically, and spiritually in a way that tested my faith far beyond the borders of what I thought I could handle. Have you also experienced situations pushing you past your current level of faith?
God gave me strength to hold on in the moment.
In the coming months, I learned to rely on God’s power to choose faith, one moment at a time. With each choice to believe, There wasn’t any other way to get by.
At the end of our cross-country trek, we pulled into military housing in California. We drove slowly down the street, looking for the address of our new home. Tidy, small homes faced the sidewalks where children played. ”Is that our house?” piped little voices from the back of the van. More than ready for the end of a long journey, I felt the fresh excitement of new beginnings . . . until I saw our house.
Dank yellow paint peeled in spots and weeds grew two feet tall in cracks of cement. With a hole in the foundation, and dead, uncut grass, the house had a dilapidated, musty, uncared for look. We’re going to live here? Shouldn’t this place be condemned?
This was the moment the imbalance of my hormonal system tipped to a place called uncontrollable. Plunging down the steep drop of a thyroid-induced roller coaster, blood pulsed and adrenaline flooded my system and it was months before I felt anything close to calm.
It was months before my hands stopped shaking.
Believing God is a Choice Not an Emotion
Fear stormed in with a take-all vengeance, threatening to wash me away in an unrelenting flood of anxiety. Clouds gathered and my hormonal system cracked open with internal thunder. Dread plagued my days as we got settled and I tried to care for three young children in an unfamiliar place.
With my body stuck on constant go, sleep became impossible. I spent the dark hours pacing the house, wearing a thin path in the carpet. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t turn off my racing thoughts or squelch my feelings of fear.
Hang tight to faith no matter what your feelings tell you.
How do you choose to believe, to stand strong in faith while swirling in overwhelming uncertainties: I’m going crazy. Will I ever feel normal again? How do you choose holiness in an iron grip of fear? These are crucial moments to remember that believing God is a decision, not an emotion.
Many nights I was too jittery to sleep but too weak to stand. While the rest of the family slept, I rocked on my knees pleading, “God, help me!” Heart pounding with my pulse out of control, I longed to unzip my skin and climb right out of myself—be anywhere but stuck in this broken body.
I didn’t recognize myself anymore. Who was this frantic, fear-crazed woman taking over my life?
The holy practice of praying God’s Word.
Praying like gasping for breath when the water is over your head, I clung to God’s promises in Isaiah 43 with the blind strength of a drowning woman gripping a lifeline:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you” (Isaiah 43:1b-2).
These words helped me hang on, minute by minute.
Our soul, the inner life of personality, mind, will, and emotions, is a like deep pool filled with what we believe–really believe–not just know or agree with.[i] This is the truth we live.
We need the restoring work of holiness in our thoughts, feelings, and core beliefs.
Our core beliefs are tucked away in the secrecy of our soul. Some of those beliefs are the truths of God. But others are conclusions and misperceptions, based on experiences, thoughts, and emotions impacted by our history. Sometimes truth and false beliefs born of pain and sin lie side by side in the depths of our soul. We have a desperate need for God’s healing and restoring work of holiness, bringing our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in line with God’s truth.
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. . . And are intimately acquainted with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1, 3b).
No one knows us better than God. Dallas Willard explained, “You’re a soul made by God, made for God, and made to need God, which means you were not made to be self-sufficient.[ii]“ He understands our struggles, and part of holiness is His desire to cleanse us inside and out from the bondage of sin and self.
Given a choice, we would prefer to leap from sinner to sanctified in one quick leap, skipping all the mundane moments and difficult times. But day-by-day, God’s works to heal our hurts, restore our vision, lift our emotions, guide our steps, and fill our lives with the indwelling Christ. Jesus is the saver, the Savior, of our souls.
Especially in our toughest experiences, holiness is found in each small-but-significant choice to trust God one more time. #christainmaturity #believinggod Share on X Inhale another breath and move forward with another shaking step. Never discount small, brave acts of faith that spur you to go on rather than give in.
Remember God is with you when you feel anxious.
Six weeks later and twenty pounds lighter, I was severely sleep-deprived and emotionally strung-out with anxiety. Afraid to go out and afraid to stay in, I tried not to give into fear. I failed again and again, face-planting in the muck of difficulty. God’s Spirit strengthened me over and over, reminding me of the Isaiah passage I had memorized: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
I was afraid of being afraid.
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
I was afraid of nothing specific.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched . . .
I was afraid of everything.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Savior. Holy One.
The Lord is my God; He is with me and He is with you.
Choosing holiness on the hard days comes down to believing God is our savior who walks with us in all things.
Stop allowing emotions to dictate and define your faith.
This is true not because it feels true. Fear was the only thing I could feel at this time. Maybe God removed any emotional, warm-fuzzy feeling of His presence to teach me to stand on the truth rather than feelings.
To believe God’s words were true, I had to stop letting my emotions dictate and define faith.
How about you? Have you struggled to settle emotions and trust God in all the challenges of this past year? Discover what happened when things got worse before they got better in the rest of the chapter. No need to enter your email, just click and read. Check out the book page on this site for more information and free book resources like printable quotes and a discussion/journal guide. All free with my gratitude for reading and sharing Holy in the Moment.
Get More Out of Your Reading Experience
You’re invited to join our Holy in the Moment Community, an interactive reader group of women seeking to make the holy choice of relying on Christ in all their moments. Together, we are practicing life-giving choices to thrive in our identity in Christ, one choice at a time!
We’re starting a new discussion so this is the perfect time to jump in! Get started with the free chapter and order a copy of the book here.
Your Holy Moment Tracker
Practical reminders to rely on Christ in the moment. Track your choices to build holy habits to help deepen your life with God, others, and yourself. God is working through our daily choices. This handy tracker will help you develop spiritual attention and holy habits. You’ll also get a blank tracker to personalize for the holy habits God is working into your life. Click here to download your tracker.
[ii] Dallas Willard, quoted in John Ortberg, Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You (Grand Rapids: Zondernan 2014) 39.
Strategies and Scriptures to Combat Negative Thinking: With Free E-book
Toxic thoughts are corrosive to our spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational well-being. Learn to identify negative thinking patterns and develop mental and spiritual strategies to overcome negative thinking. Change negative thinking with biblical wisdom and help for breaking the pattern of negative thinking. I hope you enjoy this expanded update to the most visited post on my website.
Are you ready to stop letting your thoughts boss you around?
With nearly every conversation we ask, “How are you?” I answer, “Fine. I am doing well.”
And I am.
And yet at the same time, beneath the fine, I often hold a silent conversation with myself. Negative thoughts invade the peace of my days, breaking in just when I think I’ve put them to rest.
Strategies to Combat Negative Thinking
Negative thoughts take on a life of their own if we permit the old accusations and toxic patterns to have their say. It can be helpful to understand common types of negative thinking. I wrote about that in this post on how to identify and overcome negative thinking. Self-criticism that comes with personalizing and minimizing are a few of the patterns I’m working on. Kindness to others comes easier than kindness to myself. Do you say things to yourself you would never say to someone else? In fact, healthy and holy choices with our thoughts and emotions is my most popular and impactful speaking topic because we need encouragement and strategies to combat negative thinking.
When we develop the mental and spiritual strategies to overcome negative thinking, we shed ourselves of dead-weight internal words that drag us down and distort our perceptions.
When it is quiet, and its just you and your thoughts, what is your heart saying? Consider the following strategies that have brought a deeper level of wellness and freedom in my thinking.
Embrace your ability to choose the thoughts you dwell on.
Awareness is the first step to making better choices with our thoughts, words, and actions.
Think about what you're thinking about. When negative thoughts bombard your mind, choose to reject toxic thinking. #overcomenegativethinking Share on X
In Holy in the Moment, I shared a helpful illustration that helps me to break the cycle of negative thought patterns.
Your mind is a door to your soul, and you are the doorkeeper. Though there are many things in this life you can’t control, God has gifted you with the ability to open and shut the door to your mind, to choose what you will think about.
You can choose thoughts you will receive and the ones you will reject. I’m not saying you can keep a thought from knocking at the door—but you can choose whether or not you will agree or dwell on the thought. The more attention and confidence we place we place in a thought, the stronger it grows. Isn’t it time to learn to shut the door to unwanted thoughts? -Holy in the Moment
A powerful way to break the cycle of negative thoughts is to recognize that our emotions are responses that indicate what we believe to be true in the moment. Reframing our inner conversation to acknowledge our feelings but focus on truth changes the neural pathway of the thought.
Awareness of the types of negative thinking empowers us to make a different choice when these kinds of thoughts that demand our attention by pounding on the door of our minds.
2. Pray for God’s help for breaking ingrained thought patterns.
Prayer is a powerful practice for overcoming our tendency to dwell on the negative. Many negative thought patterns run under the radar of our awareness and are often habitual patterns that can be hard to harness. God is the one who does the heavy lifting in transforming our thoughts. A simple strategy is to ask Christ to empower you to recognize negative thoughts and to make a better choice. In the moment, rely on Christ to help you to choose to break the cycle of toxic thinking:
Faith in the place of doubt.
Rely on the Spirit rather than default to old patterns of the flesh.
Good instead of evil.
Love rather than animosity.
Trust instead of anxiety.
Forgiveness rather than bitterness and resentment.
Right instead of wrong.
Purity over immorality.
3. Bring your thoughts under the control of the Holy Spirit.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we find a powerful and practical strategy for making holy choices with our thoughts: “We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 AMP, emphasis added).
To capture our thoughts is to recognize and notice them, and it is also refusing to let toxic thoughts run wild, build walls, define identities, or drive decisions. Capturing is surrendering thoughts to Christ rather than letting them fester or entrench themselves in our minds.
We bring Christ into the negative when we entrust our thoughts to Him. Dr. Caroline Leaf explains that when we do this, something amazing happens both spiritually and physically. Harnessing negative thought, changing it through awareness, repentance, and forgiveness, and replacing it with truth helps rewire healthy new circuits in our brains, part of God’s transforming work in our minds. (Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health, p. 71, affiliate link).
4. Renew your mind by meditating on God’s Word.
On a quiet morning I prayed about my negative thoughts. God drew my attention to these words in Psalm 104:33-34. As I wrote them in my journal the Holy Spirit shared new insights with me. If you want to change your negative thinking patterns, praise and meditation are powerful ways God can transform our minds and renew our thoughts. Here is a sample of what I learned as I listened to God as I reflected on His Word.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live
Praising God is a life style.
It’s a choice for every day.
Praising God makes our heart sing (rather than strive within us).
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
Music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, creativity, and memory.
A worshipful mind becomes part of who we are and how we live.
Let my meditation be pleasing to Him;
Meditation in this case refers to our thoughts.
This is a prayer, a goal, and an intention: to have thoughts that are pleasing to God.
There is a partnership between our intention/action and God’s provision.
As for me, I shall be glad in the Lord.
This is a commitment and a decision to make.
I shall indicates both choosing and believing; it relates to both process and outcome.
Gladness is the both an intention and the by-product of focusing on God rather than our complaints or troubles.
When gladness is my state of being, I will not be held captive by negative self-talk.
5. Memorize key verses to replace negative thoughts with God’s truth.
One of the weapons of spiritual warfare is the sword of the Spirit. The Word of God is living, active, and powerful for fighting the battlefield in our minds. Try memorizing a few of the scriptures below to break the pattern of negative thinking in your life.
I have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.–Psalm. 119:11 NLT
Win the Battle in Your Mind
Friends, negative thinking is not going to go away on its own. Those toxic thoughts will not straighten up and decide to play nice. Let unattended, our thoughts run rampant with complaints, fears, criticisms, envy, bitterness… Take your pick–there’s plenty to choose from.
Rely on Christ as you practice these strategies to stop negative thinking. Just a warning: this is NOT a one-time thing. Fight the battle as many times as it takes. Remember that you have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to help you. When negative thoughts bombard your mind, entrust the Holy Spirit to do what you cannot do on your own.
Only when we let go of our toxic thinking will we have empty hands and ready hearts to receive God’s blessings. This is an intentional choice we make to obey God and honor others, as well as ourselves. Free from our toxic thinking, we can thrive in the confidence we are loved, valued, and filled in Christ.
5 Powerful Scriptures to Combat Negative Thinking
Win the battle for your mind with these powerful verses. Speak, write, pray, sing, or memorize God’s word to replace toxic thoughts.
Let God’s truth change the way you think.
1. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ… 2 Corinthians 10:5
3. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
4. The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
5. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Going Deeper Begins With Our Thoughts
Are you ready to stop allowing your thoughts to boss you around? Yes, me too! Together, let’s stop allowing toxic thoughts to sabotage our spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational well-being. Go deeper than the surface of your thoughts to identify negative thinking patterns as you practice these mental and spiritual strategies to combat negative thinking. Apply biblical wisdom as you trust Christ to break the pattern of negative thinking.
Friend, a deeper life starts now as we combat negative thinking. What helps you to break free from negative thoughts?
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I’m asking God to help you overcome negative thinking today!
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Looking for more verses to add to your arsenal in the battle for your thoughts?
Get this practical, free e-book Overcome Negative Thinking for a Deeper Life: 50 Scriptures to Combat Negative Thinking in my Subscriber Library. If you’re already a subscriber, head to our free gift page and download your copy. Use this little book of encouragement, scriptures and images to encourage your heart and empower you to win the battle in your mind! (Updated contents!) Sign up here to get my emails and access to the library.
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Don’t miss these related posts:
Why Positive Thinking is Good for a Healthy Body, Soul, and Spirit
How to Identify and Overcome Negative Thinking
Why You Should Stop Discounting Your Anxiety
Are Your Feelings Defining Your Faith
10 Free Resources for an Emotionally Health You
20 Toxic Ways of Thinking That Will Poison Your Life
3 Reasons Why You Should Let Go of Negative Thinking
