Identifying The Four Voices In Your Head
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4 : 8)
Happy New Year everyone!!! Welcome to the year 2024. I always see the New Year as another chance to make things right, get back opportunities missed in the previous year, make new resolutions, and just start life over on a clean slate.
My new year resolution this year is to make a conscious effort to sift through the voices in my head, block out every distracting one, and listen ONLY to the Holy Spirit.
You know how you get into a conversation with yourself sometimes, just to reflect on past events? Like that self-talk that I believe everyone has with their selves? Unfortunately, that might not be only your voice in that conversation.
The Four Voices
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Ephesians 2 : 3
There are four voices in our heads advising us, shaping our mindsets, and thought patterns. These voices are the world, the flesh, the devil, and the Holy Spirit.
Like the Bible passage explains, these voices of the world, flesh, and the devil carry out ONLY the desires of the mind and the body. They are what speak thoughts of false guilt, shame, hurt feelings, sad feelings, pride, misinterpretation of social cues, and peer pressure.
So when you engage in self-talk next time, make a conscious effort to engage in conversations only with the Holy Spirit, as all other voices are distractions and work against the higher principles of the Christian faith.
How To Identify These Voices
Now, when these voices speak, they speak in the first person, “I, me”. I once thought if the devil wants to speak and influence your thoughts, it will speak only in the second person, “you”. But that wouldn’t be persuasive enough.
So the next time you catch yourself thinking, “I am not attending church today, those people are fake Christians and keep pretending” beware, that’s not you speaking, it’s the devil personalizing his words to make it seem like it’s you speaking so it is more effective.
However, the Holy Spirit which is the only voice every believer should be listening to replaces thoughts of chaos with peace, sadness with joy, hatred with love, hurt with comfort, confusion with clarity, and weakness with power.
The Root Of Your Thoughts
It took me a lot of work to start paying attention to the root of my thoughts anytime I was having a self-talk because three other voices are also speaking and they minister more to your appetite and circumstance at that moment.
For example, a while ago I was tempted to stop speaking to a friend whom I loved so much because these voices kept emphasizing her flaws and intensifying how sad her “unknown” actions made me feel.
However, I found solace in the Holy Spirit who made me realize every human is flawed, and if I stopped focusing on my interpretations of her actions, and instead started understanding the action independently, without external influences like past traumas, anger, and attachment styles, it would save our friendship, as well as my relationships with every other person.
Sometimes, the voices of the flesh, the world, and the devil use your past traumas, attachment styles, and personality traits to shape your mindset and determine how you treat others and react to situations.
It will be easier to make an introvert miss out on great opportunities during networking events with a thought like “I can’t speak to this person even if I’ve always admired her, I am scared and I don’t have anything to say, she might be dismissive”
That again, is how the devil will speak to prevent you from connecting with great minds that can be a stepping stone to your success in life because it is out to steal from you, especially your prosperity.
Or for someone with a fearful-avoidant attachment style, the devil can easily make you miss out on a good spouse with thoughts like, “I can’t get close to Frank even if I love him, what if he hurts me? What if I do something wrong to push him away?”
That is still not your voice speaking. The voice of the devil will use past traumas and psychology to ruin relationships that can be helpful to you. The devil is also out to prevent and attack Christian marriages.
Silencing Those Voices
The Holy Spirt comes in here, by showing you your inadequacies, by letting you see why you’re angry by that harmless action, why you suddenly want to cut off a friend you love so much because you’re scared, why you’re not following your passion of lecturing because you’re shy or think you will not stand out, and how these actions are manipulations by the devil to prevent your progress in life.
The devil has come to kill, steal, and destroy anything and everything. It will use your flesh, the world, and weaknesses against you, if it has to.
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Matthew 10 : 16
The Holy Spirit helps in every way. He advises in your relationships, finance, career, health, business, and marriage. To overcome any stronghold of the mind, have successful relationships, overcome worldly pressures, and find your confidence, you need the Holy Spirit.
Repentance
To have the Holy Spirit, you must first surrender your life to Christ. If you are yet to do that, Kindly say this after me:
Lord Jesus, I believe that you died on the Cross of Calvary for my sins and that you love me dearly. Today I confess that you are my Lord and personal Savior. I surrender my life, body, soul, and spirit to you as I invite you to come and dwell in my heart. I confess and forsake every sin hindering me from experiencing your saving grace (mention the sin). Please accept me today, and make me free from the grip of death, hell, and sin. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
