Our text is God’s outline for how we should think in a healthy manner. The fact is how we think determines how we feel and what decisions we make. If we have negative thoughts, we will have a negative lifestyle. We cannot think about two thoughts at the same time. Try it. Think about the wall that’s before you and the floor that is beneath you. You may switch back and forth between the wall and the floor, but you cannot think about both of them at the exact same moment. This is the point that God is making in this text. If we dwell on the negative, we will bring unhappiness upon ourselves. Conversely, if we think positively, we will invite a positive experience. Let us explore irrational thoughts that we could harbor which will injure our spiritual life.
I cannot change because this is the way I am.
Thoughts have their own power over me without any control over them.
I am destined to be the kind of person that is stuck in my situation.
I must give and give and give of my time, money, and whatever else is asked of me to provide someone else.
I am unworthy of respect and cooperation.
It is an absolute necessity for an adult to have love and approval from peers, family, and friends.
I must be unfailingly competent and almost perfect in all I undertake.
Certain people I decide are evil, wicked, and villainess, and should be punished.
It is horrible when people and things are not the way I would like them to be.
External events cause misery because people simply react as events trigger their emotions.
I should feel fear or anxiety about anything that is unknown, uncertain, or that I perceive is potentially dangerous.
It is easier to avoid than to face life’s difficulties and responsibilities.
I need something other or stronger or greater than myself and God.
The past has a lot to do with determining the present.
Happiness can be achieved by interaction, passivity and endless leisure.
I am helpless and have no control over what I experience or feel.
People are fragile and should never be hurt.
Good relationships are based on mutual sacrifices and a focus on giving while expecting the other person to give their fair share in the relationship.
If I don’t go to great lengths to please others, they will abandon or reject me.
When people disapprove of me, it invariably means I am wrong or bad.
Happiness, pleasure, and fulfillment only occur in the presence of others, and being alone is horrible.
There is a perfect love, and a perfect relationship with human beings.
I shouldn’t have to feel pain because I am entitled to a good life.
God wants me to be happy.
My worth as a person depends on how much I achieve and produce.
Anger is automatically bad and destructive.
It is bad or wrong to be selfish.
Someone else’s opinion is more important than my own.
If I am mistreated, it is my own fault.
