Speaking to Your Soul #1
From Steve's book YOU'RE CRAZY IF YOU DON'T TALK TO YOURSELF
GETTING ANGRY AT THE RIGHT THING
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
I remember playing football when I was a freshman in high school. I enjoyed football except for one thing – I didn’t like physical contact. Also, “mean” and tough players intimidated me. During practice and games, I tried to avoid being hit as much as possible. This passive and defensive approach did not make me very successful as a football player, and it actually increased my likelihood of injury. It was not a pretty picture.
One day at practice everything changed. I cannot remem-ber the specific details, but I do know that I came to a place where I had enough of being pushed around and living in fear. I got mad. It was an anger mainly directed at myself. I made a decision on the inside of me that I was not going to take it anymore. I started to be more aggressive and began bringing physical con-tact to the other players before they brought it to me. As I became more assertive, everything changed. I began to enjoy football very much and became a star defensive player. It was an important time in my life that helped me beyond athletics.
If you have not played football, you may not understand completely what I’m saying; but this is still a powerful truth for you in learning to overcome the lies and intimidation of the devil. We must rise up and proclaim God’s truth and tell Satan what we can do so that we are not continually pushed around by feelings and circumstances that seemingly confirm his lies.
Ephesians 6:14-18 reveals the armor of God that is neces-sary for triumphant living. This armor includes one offensive weapon. It is “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” Isn’t it interesting that it is called the Word? It’s not named “the thought,” or “the writing,” or something else; but it is the Word (something that needs to be spoken).
A powerful thing happens when we are willing to speak out God’s promises. As we do, we are taken to another level by declaring truth in opposition to negative feelings. To see the reality of this, try this: Ask a friend to count backward in his mind from ten to one. As he does, ask him to say his name out loud. What happened to the counting? If he is honest, he will tell you that he stopped counting when he spoke his name. What is the point to this? It is this great reality: our thought patterns will change when we speak something different than that which we are thinking. And when we are speaking “the Word”, it not only changes our thought patterns, but it activates our spiritual armor to become offensive and move us forward in the things of God.
Are you getting pushed around on the playing field of life? Are you trying to avoid getting “hit” by the devil? If so, the Bible says, “Be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). Rise up and let righteous anger work for you. Start proclaiming the promises of God. Make a list of faith declarations to say with bold-ness daily. As you do, you will find yourself speaking to your own soul and not so much to the devil – for the devil is only empow-ered through our wrong beliefs. So let’s start “hitting” these lies and this hopelessness with God’s word. As we do, we will help ourselves and others win a great victory to the glory of God. LIFE IS IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE!
