Listen To Yourself - The One Year Love Talk Devotional for Couples
Listen to Yourself
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5
It was Friday night and Donna wanted her husband, Tim, to suggest a fun restaurant for dinner. After all, she thought, we’ve both had a tough week at work. He’ll realize that I shouldn’t make dinner tonight. We can take it easy and spend some time together. “But I didn’t say anything to him,” Donna confesses, “because I thought, He should initiate it. He should know.” Tim obviously didn’t know, because he didn’t suggest going out to eat. When Tim didn’t, Donna angrily grabbed leftovers and heated those, while thinking, He doesn’t want to spend time with me. He doesn’t care about me.
During the meal Donna sulked, and it only got worse when Tim didn’t talk to her about her day. The rest of the evening she avoided him. Why? Because “a woman shouldn’t have to ask her man to talk to her.” On top of that, she said to herself, If he really cared about me he’d want to find out how I’m doing. She threw a pity party, and he didn’t even notice. “I sat there feeling rejected and depressed. And I thought, He’s so selfish.”
If Donna monitored her self-talk, she would have realized she was being her marriage’s own worst enemy. While her goal was to connect with her mate, she ended up trying to punish him for not initiating a conversation or asking her out for dinner. Think how her mood—and the evening—would have changed if she’d countered her negative self-talk with positive, more rational self-talk: I can’t expect him to read my mind—he doesn’t know I’d like to eat out. Or Just because he doesn’t initiate a conversation in this moment, that doesn’t mean he’s not interested in me. Sure, it may take some mental muscle to conjure these thoughts whenever you’re tempted to think opposite ones, but aren’t they more accurate? We are to capture rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ—and this goes for all thoughts, self-talk about your spouse included.
What about you? Replay your recent self-talk as it related to your marriage, and see if you can adjust your thoughts in a more positive way.a
Change your thoughts and you can change the world.
—Norman Vincent Peale
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The One Year Love Talk Devotional for Couples
By Dr. Les Parrott and Dr. Leslie Parrott
Tyndale
$7.99
