Our beliefs are the thoughts that we have practiced thinking over and over again.

We have to practice believing a new thought in order to begin to act a different way.

Our brains form pathways. We think a thought and our body responds based on the pathway we have created over time. If we want to change or develop a new way of being in the world, we will have to create new pathways. This takes time and effort. Our brains like staying the same, they do not like exerting effort.

Our brains naturally go towards the negatives. Our brains naturally go towards what seems easy. Our brains offer us thoughts to keep us where we are, as we are. Our brains naturally assume the worst. Our brains often offer us unhelpful thoughts. Our brain would rather us blame someone else for the way we are or what is happening in our lives instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and the results we are creating.

We must redirect our brains to the positives. We must be intentional about choosing what we think. We have to practice paying attention to what our brain offers us and then redirecting our brains to the thoughts we want to think.

Right now, you could be thinking, “She’s crazy, I don’t think she knows what she is talking about” or “I don’t need to think new thoughts. I’m fine the way I am,” or maybe “I just am the way I am.” Or “How is thinking a new thought really going to help.” And I would ask, are those thoughts helpful? Do they move you towards becoming the person you want to be? Do they generate hopeful positive feelings in you that motivate you to take the actions you want to take?

I believe we are created with amazing brains but that often we let our brain do what it wants without really considering the power we have to choose what we think and how we feel and what we create in our life. We must take responsibility for our lives and the results we are getting.

You choose what you believe by the thoughts you think over and over until they are ingrained in you. We must practice awareness and recognize the thoughts our brains are offering us. Then decide is this a thought I want to think. We ask ourselves, “Does this thought move me towards the person I want to be? Is this thought true? Really true? Is this thought beneficial to me?”

How do we begin to cultivate new beliefs? Believe in your ability to change. Believe in your God given ability to choose your thoughts and renew your mind. The Bible tells us to take our thoughts captive. I always thought that just meant I prayed harder and asked God to change the way I think then waited for God to change me and was upset when I remained the same.

We are the ones who change our thoughts. We decide what we allow our brains to think on. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit in us helping us, strengthening us, and encouraging us, but we have to do the work.

I always thought that God was just supposed to make me feel better because I prayed and read and studied His Word. I have learned we feel better as we take captive our thoughts and renew our minds on His Truth. We practice believing that we are loved, accepted, enough. We practice trusting that God is in control, so we do not have to worry. We practice believing that things are exactly as they should be because this is how they are, and we believe God is Sovereign over our lives.

We must believe in our ability to retrain our brains. We must have hope that there is a better way. We must be willing to practice awareness of our thoughts and intentionally choosing what we want to think. And we must be kind to ourselves as we practice awareness. We practice self-compassion and accept our humanness in the process of becoming.

We encourage ourselves. We tell ourselves we are doing a good job. We tell ourselves we are exactly where we should be because this is where we are. We practice believing that nothing has gone wrong.

We all want someone else to believe in us, to support us, and encourage us, and tell us we are doing a good job. And that is great if we have it. But I want to ask you, do you believe in you? Do you support you and encourage you and tell yourself you are doing a good job? Do you speak kindly to yourself, like you would someone you cared about?

We naturally want to work on things that are easy for us, comfortable, tangible, and concrete but if our thoughts generate our feelings then it is beneficial to work on our thoughts that will lead to the results we want.

We all are dealing with changes all the time. We all have losses and griefs. There are accidents and tragedies. There are also joys and wins. We all have highs and lows. We all have failures and successes. We all have celebrations and disappointments. They look different in each of our lives, but it is all there. We get to choose what we make it all mean with the thoughts that we think! The thoughts we think determine what we believe. Choose your thoughts wisely!

Life is hard sometimes. And the people, situations, circumstances, all the stuff, can be overwhelming. Whether it is a workday where the material comes in wrong, deliveries mysteriously disappear, and contacts do not reply to our multiple email requests for confirmation or information. Or a day where you receive a phone call that changes everything you are doing for the next several weeks because your child has been in an accident, or your parent has died, or the test results came back positive. Or a month when all these things happen at once.

Through all of whatever life throws at you, we must choose to trust in God! We must practice believing that nothing has gone wrong. We must practice remembering that God loves us and is with us and is working all things together for our good even when it doesn’t appear that way.

We practice self-compassion in the midst of all of it. We take a few deep breaths. We journal our thoughts, get them all out on paper. We take a walk or go for a run. We be with ourselves with whatever emotions come up in the chaos. We feel what we feel and don’t make ourselves wrong for it or try to escape it. We practice regulating our emotions. We practice accepting all of our humanness. We witness our lives and choose to be present for all of it.  

I encourage you to tell yourself a good story in your head about yourself and your life.

Decide to intentionally choose the thoughts you think. Choose to believe that God is allowing whatever in your life to teach you, or someone else, something about Himself, to draw you into a deeper relationship with Him. Practice trusting Him by choosing to think on His Truth.

Choose to practice believing God! Choose to believe that He loves you and is with you and is for you and is working all things together for your good!

Trusting God is not about Him working out everything so that your life is “trouble free.” Trusting God is about knowing His love for you in all of life, the beautiful and the terrible, the easy and the challenging, the happy and the sad.

Keep seeking God! Keep discovering His goodness and grace! Keep experiencing His miracle and mystery!