What Are You Talking About?

Voices. They're everywhere. In our heads, on our phones, at our churches, in our homes, coming from the T.V., shouting from all of our social media outlets. Every. Where.

I often wonder if people even know how to make up their own minds anymore. We try to make educated decisions with limitless information right at our fingertips. We can pretty much guarantee that we'll find a thousand opinions and articles wherever we choose to look and we can be darn sure it's in agreement with us. Amiright?

Unfortunately, what goes in must come out. The conversations we have, the radio and T.V. stations we fill our minds with, the articles we read. These all shape our minds and our hearts then eventually flow from our lips.

But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It’s from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That’s what pollutes. Matthew 15:18 MSG

How many times have you endured listening to a negative person carry on at such great length that you start to feel angry, upset, or irritated? How often do you listen to someone gossip and then start to add in your own findings because it really doesn't feel so wrong when others are doing it? Are words that are less than beautiful becoming second nature because it's what you hear day in and day out?

It seems as though we can't escape it. Negativity is EVERYWHERE! I mean. I'm all for this being honest and raw deal that everyone seems to be doing these days. I get that. We NEED to be vulnerable. But at some point we need to puke out the crap and walk away from it. Let's not be like dogs and keep going back to it. Gross. Puke. Show everyone you're real. Walk away. If we don't, it will breed. It keeps growing like an out of control "science experiment" in the back of my fridge.

So what are you talking about? How are you contributing to the conversations around you that are more often than not, pointless? Are you adding to the value? Or are you adding to the mindless chatter of gossip, negativity, ranting and raving, we're going to hell in a hand-basket nonsense?

In a world that seems to be spinning out of control, we're quick forget that we have so much power in our words. The words that fall off of our lips can kill and destroy or they can bring life and freedom. Which will you choose? {Tweet That}

Words kill, words give life;
    they’re either poison or fruit—you choose. Proverbs 18:21 MSG

We've got to become people who shed light, who season the earth, who encourage and inspire, bring hope and joy. It almost seems foreign at first. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. If you're filling your mind with truth and love, it's what will pour from your mouth. If we don't who will?

So how do we do this exactly?

1. Fill your mind with good. What goes in must come out. Reading the Bible and memorizing scripture is so important. It actually does renew your mind. I saw Dr. Caroline Leaf speak at the Colour Conference in 2013 and she showed us what bad thoughts look like in our brains. They actually do grow. In fact they look like trees and they can take over your brain. She also showed us what reading the bible and filling our minds with good does. It stops the bad trees from growing and begins to shrink them! It's not just what the Bible tells us, it's science. She said, "Science is finally catching up with the bible."
2. Turn off the bad. I'm not telling you to live uninformed. We do need to know what's going on in the world. But if you're constantly watching or listening to people who are negative, it's going to leave you feeling like a wreck. Turn off the news. Turn off the radio. Do what you need to do to limit the negativity.
3. Change conversations. If you've got friends that always seem to be talking negative or gossiping, try to control the conversation. Change the tone or the topic. And if it happens all the time with the same people, maybe it's time to break the news and let them know it's not healthy.  They'll probably agree because no one feels good after a gossip sesh.
4. Surround yourselves with like-minded people. This doesn't mean you only have one group of friends. But, find people that share your dreams and help fuel them. Encourage and inspire each other. Lift each other up and be ears that listen and a voice  that brings life.

These are things the world needs more of. These are things that I need more of. Let's be a generation that speaks of lovely things. Much much love to all of you!

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Phil 4:8-9 MSG

 

How do you keep the negative out? What do you enjoy talking about?