5 Verses to Help you Fast from Negative Self Talk
I am not immune to the Enemy’s voice, whose only aim is to lie, cheat and destroy our relationship with our Heavenly Father. The most frequent lie that I often hear is that I am not enough. It has manifested in different forms throughout my life, and it has bred negative self talk that spirals into self-sabotage.
Part of my story includes a bout of debilitating, chronic illness and infertility - confusing me in my vocation and distorting what, I believed, was the plan for my life. This infirmity removed the physical signs of the Lord’s fruitfulness in my life, and still isolates me socially as my peers start families of their own. How could God truly see any good to come from these afflictions?
Intellectually I know the Lord loves me, that He has a plan for my life and that I exist for such a time as this. But when one's path includes such physical suffering, and periods of deep loneliness because of it, it weighs heavy on the body to believe this Truth about our relationship with our Creator.
Throughout my faith journey, I have found Scripture to be a living letter from God. A guide to fighting negativity and hopelessness in my deepest sufferings. His message of hope is built throughout each Book, and the Word is new and fresh everyday.
Below you'll find the most inspiring Scripture passages for combatting feelings of isolation and insignificance.
The fruit of this text has given me hope, reduced my fears of inadequacy and deepened my resolve and resiliency in my trust for God’s will for me:
ISAIAH 50:4-5
The Lord has given me a well-trained tongue
That I may speak with words that will rouse the weary
Morning after morning, He opens my ears that I may hear
And I have not ignored Him, and I have not turned away.
JOHN 15:16
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
And appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain
So that whatever you ask the Father in my name,
He may give you.
HABBAKUK 2:3
For the Vision awaits its appointed time,
A testimony to the end, it will not disappoint.
If it delays, wait for it.
It will surely come, it will not be late.
MATTHEW 7:11
If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children,
How much more will your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him.
Mary Beth Keenan, @mb_keenan.15
Yet, no passage in Scripture has resounded so truly in my spiritual journey as ISAIAH 49:2-7. Words like he hid me, And my reward is with God, I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and Has chosen you resonate with my soul.
From the beginning of this passage to the end, God gives me the affirmation of His faithfulness, the special care that He has cultivated for me and in me. In the first paragraph, we read of the Lord’s preparation in us for His Will. I know too well the feeling of being invisible, unseen by my peers and often believing the lie that even God doesn’t see my suffering.
When I read the Truth of God’s Word and experience His deep attentiveness to my every need and concern, I am able to enrich the foundation of my faith and strengthen my personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.
The creator of the universe is not only our Creator, but our friend. He loves us, has a unique and important plan for each of us, and even though we may feel hidden or small, we have been personally chosen to exist by a loving Father - and His plans for our life are bigger than anything we could dream.
If all this is true, which it most certainly is, our antidote to the poison of negativity and self-doubt can first be found in the Word.
Meet Mindy Edgington
Mindy is a fiery, Midwestern Catholic convert living in Omaha, NE with her husband and their hound dog. By day, Mindy works in supply chain and group purchasing for a large, Catholic health system. By night, she is a law-school wife, and Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in foster care. Her hobbies include "strong drinks and hard conversations,” reading, writing, hiking, traveling and living out the pillars of Catholic Social Teaching. You can follow her on Instagram @mindy.edgington.