I have a chronic condition. No worries. It isn\u2019t\nlife-threatening. But it is life-impacting, causing extreme distress and\nmisery. The diagnosis\u2014negative thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Usually I talk about this when it\u2019s in remission (symptoms\nhave lifted for a while). The problem with a chronic condition: it keeps\nrecurring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Out of nowhere my thoughts took a downturn. Negative\nstuff\u2014unexpected hurts, a grudge or two, with a little hopelessness mixed in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Self-talk: Good grief!\nWhere does this come from? Why do I go there? Haven\u2019t I gained enough spiritual\nmaturity to prevent this?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Underlying problem\u2026I\u2019m a packrat. I keep things\u2014old usable\nitems I might need again someday and useless items having only sentimental\nvalue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My packrat tendencies don\u2019t end there. I store old hurts and grudges. A fresh hurt sends me rummaging through the musty contents of my storage chest and dragging out the rotten memories. What a waste of life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A fresh hurt sends me rummaging through the musty contents of my storage chest and dragging out the rotten memories. What a waste if life! <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Why would I do that? Why choose to relive the ugliness? If\nonly I could set fire to that rancid collection and be rid of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Such is the life of humans. Memory\u2014a good thing\u2014becomes a\nbad thing when we save and dwell on hurtful experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But they are there. We have no delete<\/em> key to eliminate them. How can we ever get beyond this trap?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Time for a therapy session\u2014facing the facts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awesome news! Although there is no delete<\/em> key, we have a power<\/em> key\u2014power of choice. We can choose to forgive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can\nwe forget? No. But we can put the offense out of mind. That requires mental\ndiscipline\u2014filling our thoughts with good things\u2026the whatevers Apostle Paul\nmentioned in Philippians 4:8. He encouraged us to think about whatever is true,\nnoble, right, pure, lovely, admirable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s\nthe cure for negative thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Years\nago, \u201cJust say no\u201d was a popular anti-drug campaign. I thought of it recently\nwhen I read this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor\nthe grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us\nto say \u2018No\u2019 to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled,\nupright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope\u2014the\nglorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself\nfor us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that\nare his very own, eager to do what is good\u201d (Titus 2:11-13 NIV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nteach our kids to say \u201cno\u201d to drugs. We choose to say \u201cno\u201d to ungodliness and\nworldly passions. We can choose to say \u201cno\u201d to negative thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve\nmade up my mind to do it. And I\u2019m filling my storage chest with things that are\ntrue, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Isn\u2019t\nit time to empty your storage chest and fill it with good things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n