What’s your Language?

“Mom, I don’t know what to do anymore!” my high school daughter cried as she plopped on my bed.

“What is it now?” I knew she was talking about her friend.

“I’ve been trying to be positive and not complain about everything but it’s impossible with her,” she vented.

“ She’s very negative about everything and criticizes everyone!”

“Have you tried to talk to her about it?” I asked.

“Yes, but she gets mad at me. She’s always in a bad mood. Maybe that’s why she gets so many headaches,” she concluded.

We decided to pray for her friend every morning on our way to school.

The Bible says that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.” Pr.18:21 (AMP)

Studies show that our mental and physical health are directly related to our attitude.

 According to marquemedical.com: “…extended bouts of negativity can result in serious health problems. Extended periods of negativity slow digestion and decreases the immune system’s ability to fight inflammation. This is also why negative people are more likely to get more sick than optimists.” 

This is the fruit, or consequence, of “speaking death” by having a negative attitude.

Doctors recommend, among other things, exercising, healthy diet, sleeping, resting, meditating/praying, and an attitude of gratitude to improve our mental and physical health.
Since we give power to what we focus on, we can focus on the positive things in our day-to-day life to activate optimism in our mind and body.

“What you are thinking every moment of every day becomes a physical reality in your brain and body, which affects your optimal mental and physical health. These thoughts collectively form your attitude, which is your state of mind, and it’s your attitude and not your DNA that determines much of the quality of your life.” 
― Caroline Leaf, Switch On Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health

An effective tool to get started is keeping  a Gratitude Journal.  This practice can help us remember all the ways God has helped us, protected us and provided for us throughout our life, especially on days when we face trials and tribulations.

This stirs faith and hope in our hearts, which also strengthens our minds and bodies.

We can see this end result as the fruit of “speaking life”.

Today, we can decide to change our habit from speaking death to speaking life.

I suggest buying a pretty journal to keep on our nightstand so that each morning or evening we can write down all the positive (big or little) things in our day.

Remember that every day has brand new mercies and blessings, which never run out or expire, so, we’ll always have something to add to our journal.

Try it out and let me know how it goes!

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.  

   Lam 3:22-23(ESV)