Put Your Thoughts On Trial (part one)

Hello beloved child of God, I hope you’re fine by God’s grace.

We’ve talked a lot these days about depression, and about what goes on in the mind/soul.

Depression starts with your thoughts. When your thoughts are negative, they have a negative impact not just on your soul/mind but also on your body.

Not every thought you have comes from God, that’s why you have to learn to examine your thoughts, to put them on trial and to decide whether or not they are from God and whether or not they are helping you.

Imagine yourself going to court against a thought. You play three roles

• The role of the attorney of the thought: saying why this thought could be right
• The role of the prosecutor who is against the thought: giving every evidence for which the thought can’t be right at all
• The role of the judge: based on comparing evidence you decide whether that thought is the truth and whether it really comes from God

Philippians 4:8 NIV

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Your thoughts should meet the criteria of Philippians 4:8.

I think it will be easier to understand with an example.

I learned this method from the book “Anxiety and Depression for Dummies” by Laura Smith and Charles Elliot. I just adapted it for Christians.

Example: Put Your Thoughts On Trial

Nathalia got her neck burned by acid when she was younger. She is now an adult but she always hides her neck with a scarf. She sees all her friends getting married, and yet has the impression that no one is interested in her. She believes that it’s all because acid burned her neck. She thinks that even if any guy happened to be interested in her, he would be disgusted once he would see her neck. As such, she avoids social settings. Her main depressive thought is “No one will ever love me, all that because my neck has been burned by acid”

We’re going to focus just on this thought for the purpose of this example.

Here are a few questions she should ask herself while putting this thought on trial.

1. Is this thought illogical or distorted in any way? ( Search for reality Scramblers)
2. Is this event as horrible as I’m letting myself believe?
3. Were there any times in my life where this thought wouldn’t have held true?
4. Do I know of friends or acquaintances who have experienced similar events but for whom this thought wouldn’t the apply?
5. Am I ignoring any evidence that may dispute this thought?
6. Is this thought really helping me?
7. Have I ever coped with something like this before and gotten through it okay?
8. What would happen if I just started acting as though the thought wasn’t true?
9. From the analysis above, does this thought match the criteria of Philippians 4:8? (true, Noble, right, pure, lovely, worthy of praise)

She answers the questions above.

1. Yeah there are distortions. I’m practicing mind reading on guys I don’t even know yet, assuming they won’t like me just because I have a scar on my neck, and I’m also practicing negative forecasting for I use present events to forecast the future negatively.
2. Being burned by acid is horrible but perhaps this doesn’t have to be a block to my emotional life
3. Despite the scar my family loves me, and I have lots of female friends who appreciate me. This probably means that someone who really loves me and learns to know me will look past the scar and look at who I really am inside just like my family and friends do.
4. Yeah, in my Bible study group there is a woman who shared about how she met her husband and about the fact that despite her handicap he loves her just the way she is, and that he prioritized the fact that she is a God-fearing woman over everything else.
5. There are lots of people who are having awesome marriages even after being burned. Being burned by acid doesn’t need to stop someone’s life
6. This thought is not helping me at all. It just makes me feel sad and worried
7. I remember that one time I went on a date with a guy from church and I had to remove my scarf because it was extremely hot at the restaurant. When he saw my scar, I saw the look on his face. He was disgusted. He never invited me for a second date, but I didn’t give up on life after that. I kept taking care of myself and loving myself. I have already faced rejection and I have survived it by continuing to draw closer to God. This means that if I face it once again I will survive by His grace.
8. I would be happier if I just believed God for this: He will send a man who will love me for who I am inside and not just for my physical appearance, and I choose to trust God on this.
9. Indeed that thought was poisonous and didn’t meet the Philippians 4:8 criteria

From here, she can convict her thought, but we’re not going to that point for the moment.

For the moment, you have to look at your own life and to use these questions to analyse thoughts which make you depressed.

Start with one of those thoughts, and follow the example above.

This is called preparing your case in order to prosecute your thought in court.

Tomorrow God willing, we will go on with the prosecution and you will judge whether or not that though comes from God, and whether or not it deserves to remain in your mind.

Prayer

Father Lord God Almighty, teach me to not just accept any kind of thought but to examine all of them in light of Your Word, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.

It’s Now Your Turn

Please make sure you do your assignment and prepare your case against a negative thought.

If you have any question about this, please share in the comments section.

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Invitation

Click here if you’re looking for a church. I recommend Elevation Church to you. A wonderful Christ-centered Church in which you aren’t limited by your location and in which you can see what God can do through you.

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God bless you

Victoria Eyog