CHANGE YOUR STORY WITH KIRSTIN LEIGH Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 (NIV)
Have you ever examined the internal conversations that play in your mind daily and found them to be without hope? Or have you flipped through your journal and realized that your entries were filled with despair? My journals used to be filled with hopes and dreams, yet staring down at them ten years ago, my heart ached. All I saw was a decade of regrets and guilt. How long was I going to be fighting the same battles, struggling with the same issues? “As long as you let yourself,” answered a voice deep within my soul. This voice begged to pull me out of denial and darkness. It was so clear. So real. So what did I do? I put my pen down, shut my journal and walked away. But life was getting harder. I was tired and depressed. I was a mess. I was drinking twenty beers a day, sometimes more. I lived in a constant state of anxiety—was today the day someone was going to find out? I wanted to “change my story,” but where did I begin? That’s the thing with change—it’s overwhelming! Thinking about everything we want to change makes us want to put our heads under the covers. It paralyzes us. It seems easier to live with our problems, ‘the way things are,’ or to let ‘good enough’ be okay. But that’s never what God intended for us.
We have to deal to heal. Are you struggling with an addiction? Perhaps your bad habits are becoming unmanageable or your problems feel bigger than your purpose. Have you lost sight of who you are? Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? If so, you are not alone! I am here to tell you (and I am a living example!) that you can change your story. Whether it’s the first or the 1000th time you’ve tried, you can get your life on track with God’s plan. Science has proven that we can rewire our brain, which goes right along with what God has said since the beginning of time. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:2) There is no doubt that you have heard the phrase, ‘Once an addict, always an addict.’ But that is not true! Just because you’re a mental mess today doesn’t mean you’ll be one forever. We don’t have to live in the past, settle in setbacks, unhealthy relationships, or accept our negative behavior as the norm. We were made to evolve. To learn, to grow, to change, to conquer.
51
