Spam folders - as common on the technological landscape as grass on a summer meadow in Ohio. We all have these folders. I try to keep mine from growing out of control. Periodically I'll empty the folder.
This morning I just checked my spam folder and one in particular caught my eye. The subject line read,
"I s*elling rolex]es. do you wan$t one? ch]eap nq"
No kidding. I believe what they were trying to say was "I'm selling rolexes. Do you want one cheap?"The extra breaks in the phrase were no doubt an attempt to fly under the spam filter's radar screen. No such luck. Sorry, pal. Spam filter caught you and put you in your place (technological purgatory) until I decide when to flush you down the eToilet forever.
Spam email attempts to sell us something we don't want. It's a nuisance. And the attempts are relentless. Same is true of negative self talk. Think about it for a moment. What are some of the messages do you send yourself all day long?
"I'm no good."
"I won't be able to give up that habit no matter how long I try."
"This circumstance is too difficult to be resolved."
"I'll never reconcile with that person."
"This is going to be a bad day, I can sense it."
"Yeah, you succeeded. But it was just dumb luck. Don't count on it again."
The list goes on and on. Take it from someone who experiences this personally. I have negative self talk going on in my head all the time. I think of this sort of talk as a form of spam coming relentlessly at me. I believe it's part of the human condition as a result of the great Fall of man (thanks Adam).
So the question is: What's our spam filter? How we choose to deal with this negative self talk will have a profound impact on our ability to serve the span of care to which God has called us. If you're down on yourself, for example, you are that much less able to help another person who is down on THEMSELVES. Better to develop a spam filtering technique. That way, even though you can identify with the person who is down on themselves, you can show THEM how THEY can develop their own spam filter. So how do we develop this spam ability?
FIRST STEP
The first step in any sort of spam filter against negative self talk is to get soaking in God's Word. Start with Proverbs. There are 31 of them. That's a Proverb a day for a month. Try the praise Psalms. However you do it, fill your mind with God's perspective.
Your ability to keep yourself from "selling yourself a cheap Rolex" will help you minister to others. Develop your own personal spam filter against negative self talk and you'll be Serving Strong!
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