Recently, I have been hit over the head with the same concept over and over and over again! You know how that happens sometimes? Well, let me tell you about it. In every area that I've had some sort of issue or struggle, I have come to the realization that it all boils down to...
WRONG THINKING
Everything!!!
And after all these realizations...
One of my pastors told my Sunday school class that all sin is a result of wrong thinking. He was especially emphasizing that it is a result of wrong thinking about God!
- His character
- His thoughts (toward us or otherwise)
- His abilites (over sin etc)
- His hearing
- His love
- His perseverance (in pursuing a relationship with us)
- His patience
- His forgiveness
- His strength
- even His existence
This has been such a powerful idea in my life! It's SO true! ...but I never would have been able to recognize that before- even if someone had tried to tell me. I had to go on this journey to learn, to grow, to discover this powerful truth.
I'm definitely NOT saying that everything is back to normal- or everything's cleared up and taken care of. Definitely not! BUT I am saying that I am turned around and with much more secure footing. It is so much easier to tackle when I just deal with my thoughts that LEAD to the temptation, rather than the temptation itself. It's part of "taking every thought captive." It's definitely not easy, but it is so much better than dealing with and trying to cure the symptoms without curing the root and the cause. If I don't take care of the cause, it will either return or I will end up with a new problem with the same source.
Thank you so much for checking up on me and for all your support! Please pray for me as I try to stop tying my identity to being a "Tricha". It is not my identity, just something I do... and won't do forever!
I posted the comment below on the whydoipull.com, but it applies to my blog as well.
ReplyDelete"I belong."
"This hair BELONGS on my head."
"I do not HAVE to pull."
"I can get through this another way."
The thoughts that I tend to think when the urge is greatest are:
"This hair doesn't belong. It MUST go."
"I HAVE to pull!"
A friend of mine told me that a lot of times the thoughts that you think when you have an addiction are coming up somewhere else in your life too. So for me the thought of not belonging probably bothers me somewhere else in my life. It's a really interesting thought. It's actually really powerful for me when I tell myself that "God put that hair on my head. HE obviously wants it there. HE says that it belongs! HE says that *I* belong too! He has a purpose for me being here!"