Our mind is a battlefield.
And most of life’s battles are won or lost in the mind.
In other words, the life that we have in so many aspects is a result of the thoughts that we think.
It’s almost impossible to have a positive life if you have a negative mind.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
-2 Corinthians 10:3-5
What is a stronghold?
It is a wrong pattern of thinking.
Many of us are held hostage to the thoughts that we are thinking.
DEFEAT YOUR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
We have been talking about the power of the mind.
It is incredibly complex.
Every time you think a thought, you are creating patterns or pathways in the brain, called neuropathways.
And the more often you think a thought, the easier it is to think that thought again.
Cognitive Bias: A mistake in reasoning, based on personal experiences or preferences.
…A mental filter, or a mental framework
The filters you have, shape how you see life.
If you change the filter, it often changes how you feel.
Change the filter, change the feeling.
It’s not the facts that are different, it’s the filter.
Cognitive biases are easy to see in other people, but difficult to see in ourselves.
(We all have them)
It’s not just the filter, but also the frame.
You can be in the exact same situation, but how you frame something, determines how you see it.
REFRAMING:
Reframing: Creating a different way of looking at a situation or relationship by changing its meaning.
I wonder how often you see what you expect, not what’s really there?
You can’t control what happens to you.
But you can control how you frame it.
The Apostle Paul knows exactly what you feel like.
How did he frame it?
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
-Philippians 1:12-14
It’s not the facts, it’s how you frame it.
Reframing Your Story and Relationships
3 Tools…
- Thank God for what didn’t happen.
- Practice Pre-Framing
Deciding how I will frame a situation before I get into it.
Our frame (thoughts) shape our experience.
“This meeting is gonna be horrible, I hate these people”…
“We are going to do our best, enjoy the people, encourage 1 person.”
“This event is going to be lame”…
“Glad I have people and get to go out and do things”…
Some of us Pre-Frame Failure
Pre-Frame success…
“Somebody’s gotta win so it may as well be me.” - Dad
3.Look for God’s Goodness
You will always find what you’re looking for:
Good
Bad
Wrong in each day
Not like people
Wrong with your kids
Wrong with your job
Best
Faith
Cognitive Reframing
(You decide the meaning of an event)
Let’s let Jesus help you decide.
How Jesus Reframes…
God wasn’t absent, he was there, he sad, he didn’t want that…
FILTERS & REFRAMING.
We cannot control what happens to us.
But we can control how we FRAME it.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
-Romans 12:2
And when you know the truth, the truth will set you free.