3 Things You Shouldn't Tolerate in Life

Life is crazy sometimes. So much has happened, so much is happening, and who knows what will happen tomorrow? Do you ever get through a day, or a month (or a year!) and feel like you are finally catching your breath? Sometimes we run too fast to see where we're going, and we end up wondering where we are or how we got there.

That's when it's easy for different thoughts to enter in, thoughts that demand our attention and offer a consultation on where we stand. Some thoughts are good and helpful, while others seek to bring you down and take away any joy you are holding onto. I want to talk about 3 mindsets that we should be actively destroying in our lives.

These 3 thieves are shame, distraction, and fear.

Shame will try to rob you of your past. It will tell you that you are stained, that your story has already been written as inadequacy. Shame will claim that it's too late, and things will never be as they should have been. It will replay your mistakes so often that your victories seem worthless. You might have even befriended shame in the hopes of avoiding repeating your past. Time to un-friend shame.

Isaiah speaks of hope that is available to us when he says "Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion." (Isaiah 61:7) If you are in Christ, this upgrade is for you! If not, why wait any longer?

Shame destroyer tip: Think about how amazing Jesus is. Dwell on that for awhile and then think about how he gave you His record and identity. God looks at you and sees Jesus. It's true!

Distraction will try to rob you of being present. It will whisper that you should be somewhere else, doing other things, being with other people. It will tell you your life isn't good enough, and the things you do aren't worth investing in. It will present you with many good things while a great thing is unattended to.

This doesn't mean that anything unproductive is a distraction. If it's what you decided to do and you're focused on it, then you aren't being distracted by it. But it seems like from now on there will only ever be more distractions. So you have to choose what (and who) you want to allow in your life and what you want to put value in.

"Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil." (Proverbs 4:25-27)

Distraction destroyer tip: Write down the things you want to do this week/month and make time for them, focus on them. Put them on your schedule. Make sure to plan for rest and leisure too!

Fear will try to rob you of your future. It will create scenarios in your head of failure and pain. It will remind you of the reasons why you haven't pursued your dreams for all these years. It will masquerade as the voice of reason keeping you on a safe track.

The Bible is pretty black and white on this one - "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:7) Don't tolerate this in your life! If you do feel fear (come on, we all do) there is no shame in that (see the first point). But we can't let it stay and influence our decisions.

You were born with an awesome destiny and all the tools you need to get there are available to you. Don't let fear stop you from doing what is in your heart to do.

Fear destroyer tip: Ask God if he is afraid of any of the things you fear. He's with you, after all. Pray for more of His love in those areas. Do something good this month that scares you. 

Changing bad mindsets is not always a quick or easy thing to do, but it gets easier with practice. If you want an amazing practice regimen, check this out!!