17-18 “Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach. For it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.”
Proverbs 22:17-18 (NIV)
Many of us struggle with our self-talk. We either don’t know what to say or say way too much that’s negative. Either way, it ends up detrimental.
God wants us to have good things to say … life-giving things to utter to self and others too. He says so here in Proverbs 22. The key to having good things to say boils down to this:
BE ON THE ALERT FOR WISDOM. Since God has much to say all the time, give ear. Be on the lookout. Passionately pay attention to wisdom. As good outflow starts with good inflow, good self-talk starts with good God-talk. We can’t repeat what we haven’t heard.
MAKE WISDOM PERSONAL. Tuck wisdom deep within. Allow God’s wise words about who we are and how to live life to get to the heart of who we are. Make space. Make time. Self-talk \always overflows from the bottom of our hearts.
MEMORIZE WISDOM WORDS. Have wise words ready to be spoken. We can’t speak wisdom (grace and truth) to ourselves without having made it a part of us first. Our self-talk really improves when we memorize God’s Word and speak it back to ourselves.
Athlete, are you on the lookout for wisdom? Memorize God’s Word of wisdom, grace and truth so well that it automatically translates into great self-talk.
Prayer to consider today: LORD, help us to speak the truth in love to ourselves. Don’t let us settle for scummy self-talk, devoid of Your wisdom. Help us to hide Your Word in our hearts and speak Your Word to ourselves in transformationally great ways. Amen.
