Arterburn (2007) states:
Thoughts lead to feelings. Feelings lead to actions. Actions influence our perceptions, which then influence our thoughts. It's a vicious cycle. What we think affects how we feel, which affects how we respond. Thus, many negative feelings can be avoided by changing the thought that prompts the feeling. If, for example, I feel sad because I purposely think, "nobody cares about me," I can change my sad feelings by changing the thought to a more positive and realistic one- "God cares about me even when others don't." Because this thought is reassuring and doesn't make me feel sad, I'm unlikely to respond in a negative way.Here's the deal- feelings don't lie....they are consistently aligned with some thought (barring chemical imbalances or major life traumas/circumstances). In other words, thoughts come first, and then feelings follow. While I am no psychologist, I do think that too often we are swayed and blown off course by our feelings. Arterburn's "mental makeover" then seeks to implant the ideas that we should be very mindful of the negative thinking, be aware of God's thoughts concerning us, proactively engage in more positive thinking and actively combat errors and lies in our thinking patterns.
We must RISE to a new level of thinking.
*Reduce negative thoughts and self-degrading statements.
*Increase our awareness of God and our esteem and acceptance of the bodies were were given.
*Substitute positive thoughts for negative ones.
*Eliminate errors and lies from our thinking.
This is good, but needs to be stronger.
Take every feeling captive that is harming us.
Understand the "thought" that is fueling the feeling.
Re-align the thought based upon God's Word.
Determine to believe and speak God's truth over the enemy's lies.
If you are tracking the acronyms....Arterburn's RISE sounds much better than my TURD. But, hopefully, mine put a smile on your face and maybe you might be inclined to activate a TURD whenever you are experiencing stinkin' thinkin'.
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