Whispered Truths

"But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come." John 16:13

I've always thought of myself as a good judge of character. It's usually pretty easy for me within a few minutes of meeting someone new to figure out the truth about them. I feel it in my gut. But sometimes, figuring out the truth about myself is not so easy.

The truth of who I am may be hidden by the shouts of false accusations by repeated offenders in my life, or the history of past failures, or the whispers of the Enemy. You may share some of the lies I hear: you're unlovable, unworthy, discarded, invisible, orphaned, alone, untalented. All of these are lies. Why then, are the lies so believable and the truth so difficult to find?

The secret lies in whom we choose to listen to; to whom we will our lives; on whom we focus our attention.

When we make a conscious decision to ask forgiveness of our sins and follow Christ, the Bible says we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Whatever we'd done in our past is past, forgotten by God. But how do we make our minds forget the past? We can't. The historical record is imprinted forever. So, use it and learn from it. But, we can ask Christ to renew our minds and our hearts so that they agree with what God sees as truth in us. Romans 12:2 says, "...be transformed by the renewing of your mind." In other words, change what your mind is thinking. How is this accomplished? By focusing on Christ... the Christ in us.

Tonight I sat in a seminar which taught us how to take the negative emotion (the lie) and refocus it from our mind to our will (or our gut) and allow Christ to gain control of that emotion to bring peace. It sounds hokey, I know. But it works. If we refocus our attention from the negative (I'm a failure, unloved and unworthy) toward Christ, He will renew our thinking. Christ will replace those lies with the Spirit of TRUTH... His Holy Spirit. Instead of hearing the shouts of "I'm a failure, unloved and unworthy," the Holy Spirit whispers the words of Christ to your heart. "You're a daughter (son) of the King. You are loved beyond measure and worthy of every good thing."

What we focus on, we become. May our focus be on Christ, the author and giver of life.