Are You Telling Yourself the Truth?

[Are You Telling Yourself the Truth?]( Current Teaching Series [Re-Thinking Your Life]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [Are You Telling Yourself the Truth?]( By Rick Warren — 10/23/2020 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.” Romans 8:5 (NLT) Have you ever felt like you are a hostage to your thoughts? Maybe you just can’t get a thought out of your mind. Or you often find yourself doing things you don’t want to do. You knowingly engage in self-defeating behavior. You know something is not good for you, but you do it anyway. Romans 7:23 says, “I see a different law at work in my body—a law that fights against the law which my mind approves of. It makes me a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body” (GNT). Because of your sinful nature, you think of yourself and your wants more than what God wants. It’s a battle in your mind, and you’re losing it. Your old nature—who you were before Jesus changed your life—is not your friend. It is the source of all your self-defeating habits that tend to take you down. Do you want to break those habits and have more control over the way you think? Then you need to hear and understand this truth: You don’t have to believe everything you think. Your mind lies to you all the time. Just because you think something is true doesn’t make it true. Just because you feel something is true doesn’t make it true. Your mind and your emotions often lie to you. Part of spiritual growth—becoming more like Jesus—is learning to know the difference between thoughts that are true and those that are not. One of the most important disciplines you can build in life is to challenge your own thoughts. Say to yourself, “I know what I’m thinking, but is that really true?” No matter how far you go in your spiritual walk, your old, sinful nature will keep trying to take control of your thoughts. You have to learn to question your thoughts, not just one time but throughout your day and throughout your life! When you start to think nobody likes you, ask yourself if that’s really true. If you think it’s never going to get better, ask yourself if it’s true. When you think your life is worthless, question what Satan is trying convince you of. Then, remember what you know from God’s Word to be true. “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit” (Romans 8:5 NLT). [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - What habitual thoughts can you stop believing when you hold them up to the light of God’s Word? - What are the things that please the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:5)? - What makes it difficult for you to surrender your thoughts to the Holy Spirit? The post [Are You Telling Yourself the Truth?]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( [Get the NEW Advent Calendar and Devotional Set when you give a gift to support Daily Hope]( Christmas is fast approaching, and we want to help you and your family keep Jesus at the heart of your holiday season by sending you our BRAND-NEW Daily Hope Advent Calendar and Devotional Set. This beautiful calendar with specially commissioned artwork includes a door for every day of December leading up to Christmas, that opens to reveal an image and encouraging Bible verse. Plus, the companion 24-day devotional booklet and Sunday activity guide will take your family deeper into the true meaning of Christmas. These special items will help you and your family keep Christ at the center of Christmas. And this set is our way to thank you for your gift below to help share the life-transforming hope of Jesus with more people all around the world. [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 8 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series Re-Thinking Your Life. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: Why You Need to Think About What You Think About Message 2: Learning to Think Like JesusMessage 3: Choosing to Manage My Mind Message 4: Rethinking the Problem of Sin Message 5: How to Win Over Persistent Temptations Message 6: Defeating Discouragement Message 7: Changing How I Think About Pain Message 8: Recovering from Traumatic Experiences [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. Rick also founded [The PEACE Plan]( to address five global issues—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. 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