I’m learning more and more every day about these 3 voices rolling around in my head.  There’s my own voice, God’s voice, and Satan’s voice.  Every time I listen to my own voice or Satan’s lies, I start to doubt my abilities and my purpose in life.  I start to dislike what I see in the mirror and see myself only as the failure that Satan wants me to feel like.  I’m in an amazing Bible Study that is teaching me the difference between guilt and shame.  Guilt is conviction from the Holy Spirit that something we did was wrong.  It lets us know that we need to repent and not do that action again.  But shame…shame is where things get very sticky very quickly.  “Guilt is about what we’ve done, shame is about who we are” (“Freedom” pg. 20).  Guilt is God’s voice.  You listen, you repent, and then He forgets about it.  Done.

But shame…shame is where things get very sticky very quickly.  Shame is where Satan or our own voice begins to turn a simple wrongdoing into who we are as a person…a failure.  Shame turns the moment that I lost my temper with my husband or kids into the “truth” that I’m a terrible wife, a terrible mom, and it tells me that my family would be better off without me.

But I’m learning.  And where before I would let myself spiral out of control until I had melted into my closet floor in a puddle of tears, I’m learning to test every thought that pops into my head.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says to “DEMOLISH arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

So if a thought pops into your head, before you let it linger even a second, get out your Bible app on your phone and test it.  If it doesn’t stand up to scripture, DEMOLISH every hint of that thought.  Turn on some upbeat music, a podcast, or start reciting some scripture verses you memorize. DON’T let Satan get a foothold.  And DON’T let those thoughts take root.  Catching those lies early can make all the difference.

What about you?  Can you tell me about a time that you either succeeded or failed at discerning between these three voices?  Please share.  Let me and others know they’re not alone out there!!