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We all have them. Those toxic thoughts that tell us we’re not worthy, we’ll never be good enough for God, we just don’t have what it takes. Toxic thoughts can inhibit our relationship with God unless we can take them captive and replace them with truth.
God’s Word is full of truth about who you are if you are a believer in Christ, and who you can become if you will allow God to take the reins of your life.
Recognizing Toxic Thoughts
The first step is to recognize those toxic thoughts for what they are: lies from the enemy of your soul. Satan does not want you to be victorious. He will throw at you every sin you’ve ever committed. But the truth is that Jesus has separated you from your sin as far as the east is from the west. Jesus will not bring them up to you again.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:12
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation on overcoming toxic thoughts with Abide narrator Tyler Boss. To hear the entire 15-minute version, download the Abide app and get 25% off with this link.
Second Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” So how do you do this? How do you lock up those toxic thoughts and make them obedient to Christ?
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation on taking every thought captive with Abide narrator Melissa Disney. Again, for the full-length version, download the Abide app.
Replacing Toxic Thoughts with God’s Truth
Once you learn how to take those toxic thoughts captive, it’s important to replace them with God’s truth. Like the parable that Jesus told in Matthew 12:43-45, if we leave our house clean and swept, but empty, it leaves room for even more toxic thoughts to come in and invade.
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation about living in God’s truth with Abide narrator Ben Little to learn more about how to replace the lies with truth.
Psalm 94:19 says, “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” Our toxic thoughts can often make us very anxious. We can wonder if they’re really true. They tend to overwhelm all the positive voices in our heads. You’ve probably heard that it takes 10 positive statements to overcome just 1 negative one. So just 1 toxic thought can make us very anxious.
Listen to the 3-minute version of this meditation based on Psalm 94:19 with Abide narrator John Fornof. Let it begin to help you find God’s consolation and live in his joy.
Satan most often likes to remind you of your sins. Maybe you’ve done some stuff that you’re really ashamed of. Things you never want anyone to know. Be assured that if you have confessed your sins to God, they are gone.
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation with narrator James Seawood. Let the words of Psalm 103 comfort you and convince you that your transgressions have been removed far from you.
Live in the Truth of God’s Word
And finally, after taking those toxic thoughts captive, inviting in the truth of God’s Word, remembering that your sins will not be thrown back at you by God, it’s important to know that you have been chosen by God.
First Peter 2:9-10 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Toxic thoughts are dark and lonely. They don’t want to be shown the light of Jesus. But God called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. You don’t have to live in the shadow of those thoughts anymore.
Listen to the short version of this Abide meditation with narrator Bonnie Curry on 1 Peter 2:9-10. Let it remind you of who you are in Christ.
You do not have to be held captive by your toxic thoughts! There is freedom awaiting you in the truth of God’s Word. If these short meditations have helped you, download the Abide app from the App Store or Google Play or get 25% off with this link.
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