Nanette CortezDoes Your Mindset REALLY Affect Who Your Friends Are?
I have found that to be so true. I remember when I let my mindset and negative emotions run my everyday life. Since I didn’t have a lot of friends, I just knew it had to be because of my personality. My thoughts were I must not be a fun person to be around. I would think nobody talks to me, invites me to go do things with them, it must be me. I had no confidence and so much self doubt about myself. Unfortunately, I would listen to all those negative thoughts and I believed them. I had no idea that your mindset determines your friends.
How I Allowed My Mindset to Determine my Friends
Because I focused so much on the negative, it impacted my life with those around me. Due to my negative thinking it eventually led me to hanging around the wrong kind of person. Because I thought nobody else wanted to be my friend. That friend in reality wasn’t a true friend, but a very controlling person. Who would pressure me to do things she wanted me to do, regardless how I felt inside about it. The devil took advantage of that thought pattern. Brought someone into my life that influenced me in a bad way, manipulated me and our friendship to get what she wanted. That friend pulled me away from the life I was living for the Lord and I allowed it all because of the negative thoughts I was thinking and listening to about myself.
How I Changed My Mindset
It wasn’t until one night when the Lord gave me a dream and said “who are you going to serve her or me?” That I woke up with the realization that I had to change. I got back into church, quit hanging out with that person, and allowed God to start helping me change my mindset towards myself.
I allowed him to show me his thoughts towards me. As I spent more time fellowshipping with the Lord and changing my thought pattern to line up with what the bible says about me. I started getting rid of that negative mindset. Once I did that, I realized I was fun to be around. God gave me this personality for a reason and it attracts my kind of people. My mindset helped me determine my friends that were more like me. I developed confidence in myself. To the point where I wasn’t afraid to sing in church or stand up and teach in front of people. I became very happy with my life and who God created me to be.
The Way the Devil Worked to Change My Mindset
Remember the Bible tells us that the devil comes to steal, kill, and to destroy. Jesus came that we may have life and life more abundantly. The first thing the devil did was to still my joy. He convinced me I was not someone people desired to be friends with. He worked on my self confidence and made me feel like a failure in every way. How did he do it? Through my thoughts. Not focusing on the blessings and being thankful, but focusing on the negative. Because of that it changed my mindset.
He started killing me by moving me away from God and through this friend convincing me I had to do things I would not normally do. I didn’t realize that was killing me until I got back to that place with God.
What Jesus Did For Me
Jesus on the other hand, restored my life. Gave me hope, my joy came back, I started living an abundantly happy life. But it all started when I once again put him first in my life that I changed my mindset and found true happiness and joy.
If you are struggling with your thoughts, I encourage you to get out your bible, spend some time in prayer. Ask the father to show you in his word his view in the areas you are struggling with in your thoughts. Let him reveal to you the truth in those thoughts so you can stop believing the lies. Then ponder and meditate on the things he is showing you.
For more info on our thoughts and how much of a role our thoughts play in our lives. How it affects our emotions and every decision we make. Go to this post Filling the Empty Container with Joy
