Hey you guys! This is Kelsie Millet and I am your host here on the Let Him In Podcast, where
my intent is to have these episodes full of thoughts, impressions and ways for you to easily let God into your every day.
So this morning we are going to be chatting about affirmations. I feel like in the last few years affirmations have become talked about more and more. Maybe they are something you have started implementing, or maybe you lean more on the side of being a skeptic of whether they really do anything.
Positive affirmations are almost as easy to define as they are to practice. but simply, they are positive phrases or statements used to challenge negative or unhelpful thoughts.
positive affirmations are used to motivate yourself, encourage positive changes in your life, or boost your self-esteem.
I totally get that affirmations can seem like a good idea, but do they really actually work? I know this is the category of thinking I fell into for a long time. I honestly didn’t understand the power that they could have until my experience of being pregnant with my first son.
I prepared for my birth using a technique called hypnobabies- and part of the curriculum that I did was listen to a positive birth affirmations track every day for weeks leading up to my delivery. The affirmations were similar to, your body was made to give your birth. You will have a beautiful and safe delivery. Your baby knows what to do and so do you. Etc. Etc.
I remember going through the motions of listening to this track simply because it was part of the curriculum and it was just what I was asked to do to prepare for birth. It hasn’t been until a few years of hindsight and now having done this type of preparation multiple times that I can now see the power that they gave me during the weeks leading up to my delivery and labor itself. These affirmations changed my mindset, they helped me to believe certain things about my body and allowed me to let go of fears and beliefs I had about myself before. They gave me an internal power regarding my body.
Studies and research has shown that by practicing self affirmations you can decrease stress, have a more optimistic mindsight, reduce negative self talk, and many many more.
So we know that positive affirmations have benefits, and studies and research to back them up. But how do affirmations play into our spiritual life?
Just like I had fears and beliefs of shortcomings regarding my body prior to birth, I think we have similar fears and beliefs of personal shortcomings in our own lives regarding our potential. Or our worth, how God may see us, how we may see ourselves.
The adversary only has to plant small seeds in our thoughts to then have ourselves continue to play them over and over in our mind until we begin to believe them.
I believe positive affirmations to be one way that we can help ourselves in this continual fight with the adversary. It is a tool that we have to strengthen our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. It is a way that we can start to distinguish more easily when Satan is placing negative thoughts in our minds.
I am sure Heavenly Father looks down on us often wishing that we would only be able to see ourselves the way the He sees us. The potential we have, the effort we are making, the growth we have already gone through.
This is the reason I love the I am section of the journal SO MUCH. It allows us the opportunity to see what God has said about us or to us that day. This gives us an opportunity to create a positive I am statement coming from our Heavenly Father of how he sees us.
These sentences for me have become so powerful knowing they were not just positive affirmations I found online, or that I made up. But, knowing that they come from a loving God who sees me has personally made all the difference.
I am capable of what is before me. I am worthy of the blessings I receive. I am a precious tool of my Heavenly Father. I am able to be the mother my kids need.
These statements and so many more I will forever be grateful for. Whether you have the Hear Him journal or not, you can receive your own I am statements from God. Pray specifically for them. And allow yourself to see how God sees you.
Today’s thought I would love for you to ponder:
We often actually use I am statements a lot throughout the day- they could sound something similar too- I am tired. I am hungry. I am busy. These “I am “statements can give a glimpse of how we feel. They are also temporary.
Once you’ve had a nap, had lunch and finished your job or to-do list, we no longer have those feelings.
The I am statements that we can be given through revelation or conversations with God are not typically temporary. But instead ways that God sees us. Divine truths about ourselves.
Pay attention to the I am statements He impresses upon you and understand that most of them will not be temporal but eternal.
If you have enjoyed today’s podcast or have had any takeaways as you have listened over the last couple of weeks, will you pause and give me a quick review or rating on Apple Itunes. It only takes about 1 minute to do so and it helps me a lot in growing this podcast and allowing it to easily be found by others.
For those of you that have the Hear Him journal, Now would be the perfect time to pull that out and continue in more stillness, an open mind and a desire to connect with God.
Love you guys!
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One Comment
I love your thoughts on “I am…” statements being eternal when they come from God. It is empowering to know how God feels about me.