The Lie of Discouragement
“Self-pity is the doorway to discouragement,” my friend during a phone conversation said. “And discouragement leads to sadness and sorrow—and left unchecked can take us right into depression.”
The above sounds like too much information for an afternoon phone call. But you know what? He is right.
Self-pity is indeed a doorway.
It was an old lie poking up to see if I might agree with it again: Poor, poor me, no one understands.
The truth is, someone does understand. His name is Jesus and He is Love. The enemy would love for us to feel sorry for ourselves, trust me I did for years. It got me nowhere.
We are instead powerful sons and daughters of The King and we get to make powerful decisions in our thought process. We can stand and believe the God who literally spoke the universe into existence—or not.
We choose what we believe.
I know it sounds direct, but someone had to speak this over my life and it changed everything.
See, we get to speak life or death over ourselves. Our words and thoughts have power. We must watch what comes out of our mouths.
Discouragement loves to help us sit around and feel sorry for ourselves but that leads to more discouragement. But we can be done with discouragement.
Scriptures
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 ESV
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. Hebrews 6:19 ESV
Discussion Question
- what triggers self-pity in you and how can you manage your situations better?
