The Power Of Positive Thinking Series

“The Power of Positive Thinking”

Breaking Free from Negative Thoughts

Brian A. Moon

Do you ever find yourself in this situation? You are watching TV or thumbing through a magazine or even just walking around at the mall and all of a sudden this rock hard guy comes on the scene or some girl that has obviously had some “body enhancements” done comes struttin’ by and you are first of all like…

What a dork or what a witch. And then you stop and look in the mirror or some reflective glass somewhere and you suck in your stomach and stick out your chest and then the thought comes… Wow, I don’t look anything like that! I am so fat and ugly!

Does that ever happen to you all? Be honest now, even us guys are threatened by some of the pumped up, well groomed, super slick guys on the movies or TV. And I know you girls are threatened by other women who are “flauntin’ what their momma gave ‘em” We all struggle with negative thinking about ourselves! And that is what we are going to be talking about tonight is how to “Break Free” from these negative kinds of thoughts. Last week we opened up this brand new series with a look at How to Break Free from Sexual Pressure and we found out a lot about just what God intended sex to be. We said that it is an amazing gift from God and just like if I gave you a new Ferrari as a gift you would be wise with that gift. And then finally we must set up some fences or some boundaries to break free from that pressure. It has been very cool to hear what some you have had to say about last week and I want to promise you this week is no different. God has some amazing truths in the Bible about how we view and think about ourselves so let’s get into it! The first thing we have to look at is some of the lies that we are fed and believe on a constant basis. You know what I mean lies like if I look a certain way, and dress with this showing, and if I can buy this kind of name brand clothes and work out really hard to get this shape to my body or have some surgery to my body to get there, and if I can just have this certain look then I will feel good about myself. You know if I look like the guys and girls on ABC’s “Are You Hot” show then I will think about myself more positively. You have to realize that all that is a lie! You can be the most perfect person on the outside, a perfect 10, and still have some very negative thoughts about yourself. God made us as more than just “eye candy” we are more than just physical creatures that is why being perfect on the outside does not mean you feel perfect on the inside. Other lies we buy into about our self worth are that if we can be successful and rich and famous then we will have ultimate self worth and think nothing but positive thoughts about ourselves. So what happens when you lose your money, or you lose your fame? What happens then, does your self worth depend on your net-worth? Our concept of who we are and what we think of ourselves cannot depend on circumstances, possessions, or people because all of these are uncertain and impossible to control. If you base how you think about yourself on the things of this world then you are going to be a roller coaster of a person. One minute you will be the cockiest person around and then the next you will be attempting suicide! Just look at all the junk that goes on in Hollywood. A lot of that is because they base the way they think about themselves on the world around them. It just does not work. It will leave you depressed and desperate, and you will turn to things that are very harmful to try to fix that illusive goal. Some turn to starving themselves to stay thin, some turn to drugs and alcohol to ease the pain, some turn to plastic surgery, and others turn to worse things like suicide. All because they thought I do not measure up to this ideal I have in my head. All because of negative thinking!

The Bible says, “You must not live like the people who do not believe in God. They do not think clearly.” Ephesians 4:17 WE

So what is the answer how do we “Break Free” from the lies and free from the negative thoughts? You must realize this simply truth you were: