By Pastor Andrew Farland
Yesterday, we talked about the power of our thoughts and their ability to take us forward or shackle us to the past and, in some cases, move us far away from recovery. Today, we are going to have an extremely practical conversation about how we can transform our negativity into thoughts that are productive and help move us closer to victory over depression.
I am going to teach you a technique for reframing a negative thought.
It’s going to take some extra time. So, if you are headed into a meeting or you’re about to fall asleep, it might be helpful for you to work through this exercise at another time. Grab a scrap piece of paper and a pen. Or use your smartphone or tablet. Spend at least five minutes on each of the following questions and write down your answers.
What is an unhelpful thought that you’ve had today or in the past week?
How does that thought make you feel? Rate that feeling on a scale of 1 to 100.
What is true of that thought? What facts show evidence that it is real?
What is false about that thought? What facts show evidence that it isn’t true?
After you take the time to work through these questions, write down an exact description of how you feel now, how you would describe your thoughts and emotions. What is the new truth that you can tell yourself?
When I was going through depression one of my negative thoughts was, “this is never going to get better. I am going to be like this forever.” When I did the reframing exercise that you just did, I was able to tell myself something that was truthful: “It feels like this is going to last forever, but it’s not. I did not experience this until I was 30 years old and it’s likely that I’ll get to live a lot of years without the feelings that I have right now.”
Finish by writing down whatever new truth came to mind. Say it out loud to yourself. Then, do this exercise again next week. Keep putting in the work and you’ll be surprised by how much God blesses your efforts.
(Proverbs 16:3
“Trust your work to the Lord, and your plans will work out well.”
