1/18/23
What is a Saboteur? Someone or something that sabotages.
“Sabotage” is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an effort through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction.
I want to talk about three things that you may be doing that obstructs, disrupts, or destroys your efforts to live the abundant life.
So what is abundant life anyway? And how do I know if I have it? Or not.
Jesus said in John 10:10 “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” The word “life” is the Greek word Zoe. It means the absolute fullness of life. Jesus came so that we could experience the absolute fullness of life. And this life He’s talking about is not just eternal life that we get to live after death, but He’s talking about a life that we get to live here on eartA Zoe life. A life full of abundance, full of absolute life.
He came that you might live free from the wounds of your past experiences.
He came that you might be free from generalized anxiety and depression.
He came that you might love freely and receive love.
He came that you might have a sense of love for yourself and to be able to walk in confidence and assuredness of who you are without insecurities.
He came that you might have relationships that are satisfying and fulfilling.
He came that you might experience peace and joy, even in the midst of unbearable circumstances.
He came that you might have abundant life - full of love, joy, power, and ability.
Sadly, there are things in our life - things that we CAN change, by the way - that are keeping us from living this abundant life fully. The first one is living in false perceptions and lie-based assumptions.
It is crucial that you understand that the things that you believe (whether they’re truth or not) affects how we think. And what you think influences how you feel, which influences how you act or don’t act, providing you with results that you like or maybe don’t like. But it all starts with what you believe.
And if you’re believing lies, lie-based beliefs, then you’re stuck in a rut.
Because the results you get from your actions will validate what you believed to be true, thus reinforcing your thoughts…to actions…to results. And the cycle starts all over again.
You can see how you’d be digging a rut if you’re constantly operating out of negative thoughts...or lies. Proverbs 23:7 says “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
So, if it’s your belief system that’s fueling all of your thoughts, have you been taking a look at that? I mean, what it is that you believe about yourself, about life, about others, about relationships, about God?
Have you stopped to consider that some of the things that you believe are not actually true? Sometimes the lies we’re believing have been formed from our childhood experiences. As a child, we only have our primal, emotional brain with which to create perceptions of life and love and how the world works. And we know that relying on our emotions to make decisions or formulate our own opinions of things or people or events is not going to create a reality based on truth. It’s subjection. And then because your brain thinks the story or perception created was truth, it doesn’t offer any other options as truth.
You’ve heard of siblings tell of their childhood and the perception of each is completely different. One sibling says they had a very normal and enjoyable childhood.
While another sibling says their childhood was filled with dysfunction and hardship.
It’s all about perspective and assumption. This becomes the lens through which you view your entire world for the rest of your life, until you disrupt that pattern of thinking.
In past episodes, I’ve mentioned Dr. Curt Thompson, author of the book Anatomy of the Soul. He says, “The mind, when left to its’ own volition…conspires to hide the truth about the reality of a God who loves us beyond belief.”
God is serious about putting us in places to reveal truth to us - to take us out of the darkness of lie-based beliefs and into the light of truth. Here are some scriptures you could look into that support that: Isaiah 9:2, Luke 1:79, 2 Cor 2:4-6, Micah 7:8
He wants you to walk in the light and He’s provided a way for our knowing.
What we really need to do is to ask Him to reveal truth and then get quiet enough to hear Him speaking.
The good news here is that the processing can be undone just by identifying the lie-based beliefs and applying the truth. The brain can be re-wired! Neuroplasticity. I talked more in detail about that in episode numbers 2 & 83 & 97 and how the brain is designed by God to be rewired.
As an adult, you now have a fully developed Pre-frontal cortex or higher level brain with which to bring logic and reasoning…new understanding and new perspectives…to an otherwise “emotion based perception.” Even though you cannot change the events of your story, you can change the way you experience your story. You can attach a new memory to an emotion, thus changing the memory itself. This creates a whole new narrative or reframes the event and changes everything. It’ll change the way you are triggered by outside stimuli. It’ll change your level or anxiety or PTSD around an event. It’ll change everything.
Yes, it takes some time and effort, but if you’re talking about a story that has you stuck or anxious or afraid of living your life, then every effort is worth it. Yeah?
So, it’s important to become a student of yourself by paying attention to the thoughts and feelings you have in your day. And to take an honest assessment of why you’re thinking those things. Because the messages we entertain are shaping how we experience our life. And if we’re not currently experiencing that Zoe life - that abundant life Jesus came to give us - then you might be living out of lie-based beliefs.
Friend, if you’re tired of letting lies and false assumptions sabotage your life, become a student of your brain and become keenly aware of what kinds of messages you’re entertaining on the daily. Then learn to make a practice of creating and reinforcing new beliefs, new perceptions, and new thoughts that are positive. These will most certainly move you into the direction of the life that you want and not further away from it.
Perhaps you’ve just had an ah-ha moment and realized you’ve been giving your agency away to someone or something or living in emotional childhood for a long time. If you’d like some help here, it would be my privilege to be your Life Coach.
I’ve put a link in the show notes for a free 30-minute call just so we can see if we’re a good fit to work together and show you how Life Coaching would work for you.
Also, don’t forget to get the free, downloadable guide that complements this episode. It has a few prompt questions that will help you personally work through some of the things I’ve talked about today. The link is in the show notes. It’s like a little Life Coaching at home.
Have a wonderful week, friends. See you next Wednesday for the next episode of Another Beautiful Life.
