“It happened again,” my son said. He came through the kitchen door and slumped on the corner chair, the household conversation place.
“Again?” I asked. I wiped my floury hands on a checked towel and pushed a pizza crust into the oven. “What did he say?”
My son relayed the conversation. I winced. Then my mama-defense kicked in. I tried to push it away while we talked.
My son had a friend who consistently spoke unkindly to him. Put-downs. Insults. Words and jokes that held sting. My normally confident boy was beginning to bruise.
“You can’t let this go on,” I said. “In a friendship, we sometimes have to speak truth in love. And the truth is, a friend shouldn’t speak to you like that.”
My son and I talked about non-combative ways to handle things. But while we were talking, an interesting truth moved through my mind.
Sometimes I allow the same type of negativity in my thought life. It’s not acceptable either. So why do I let negative self-talk score and slander my soul?
Binding, condemning self-talk. It will batter my spirit if I let it. It’ll pull me down and tether me tight and hold me in a choke hold of doubt if I allow it.
But I don’t have to.
Because there’s hope.
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3, ESV)
Perfect peace. That’s sweet water for a spirit-gone-dry with negative self-talk. And the key? Keeping the mind stayed on Him. Releasing the grip of self-focus. Pulling my thoughts away from my weaknesses, short-comings, and not-enoughs and residing in the thought-place of His glory.
His strength.
His goodness.
His provision.
His love.
I shouldn’t succumb to the damage of unhealthy thinking any more than my son should accept consistent, discouraging words from a friend. Standing there, in the mess of a kitchen and in the depths of my son’s heart, I vow to do better.
My boy and I talk a bit more about how to work through this tough circumstance. At the end of it, he’s encouraged and so am I.
Perfect peace.
Now that’s something to think about…