Introduction thoughts:

• Say title - Breaking Toxic Thought Patterns
• Intro power of thoughts
  • We think up to 60k thoughts a day - there are 57k seconds in a waking day. 
  • You are thinking about 85% the same thoughts as you thought yesterday
  • The neurons continue firing up to 10 minutes after you’ve stopped thinking a thought. 
  • Quite literally the more you think about something, the stronger the “fortress” of thought it becomes. 
• Dead End
• Kudzu weed
• Neuroplasticity:
  • Neurons Wire Together: Repeated thoughts strengthen neural pathways.
  • Stress Hampers Growth: Chronic stress and cortisol hinder new neuron formation.
  • Age No Barrier: Neuroplasticity occurs at any age.
  • Sleep Matters: Sleep crucial for memory and learning, key elements in neuroplasticity.

2 Corinthians 10:1–6 (NLT) — 1 Now I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ—though I realize you think I am timid in person and bold only when I write from far away. 2 Well, I am begging you now so that when I come I won’t have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives. 3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 6 And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.

A few foundational thoughts:

• Paul is defending his authority, they say he’s weak in person and bold in letters.
  • Some perceive he was playing a human game of politics, and earthly game
• Paul was fighting on two fronts
  • A spiritual battle
  • A mental battle
  • The two are so closely related because Satan’s speciality is thoughts
• What Paul thought was important was 
  • Strongholds of human reasoning - These are deeply ingrained systems of thought or belief that may act as barriers to the acceptance of divine truth. THOUGHT THIS SINCE YOU WERE YOUNG - Philosophy
  • False arguments - These are logical fallacies, misleading rhetoric, or flat-out lies that are opposed to the knowledge of God. HEARD THIS AND IT GOT STUCK IN YOUR MIND
  • Proud obstacles that keep people from knowing God - These could include prideful reliance on human wisdom, academic arrogance, or any form of self-centeredness that prevents people from humbling themselves before God. SYSTEMS OF RELIANCE
  • Rebellious thoughts - These are thoughts that are in direct defiance of God’s authority, challenging his sovereignty and goodness. THOUGHTS OF INDEPENDENCE AND AUTONOMY 
• It’s possible that we have deep rooted wrong philosophies, false arguments, proud obstacles, rebellious thoughts. I mostly want to combat the false arguments. 

1. The Battle
   1. When I take a medical exam, they always ask me what runs in my family because certain things are genetic. 
      1. Your battles are unique to you. 
      2. Other people have similar battles, but yours are unique to you. 
   2. Most of your TTP’s are repeated over and over, maybe in different forms. 
   3. Some typical LIES I see in people often
   4. Identity Lies
      1. Inadequacy - "I am not enough." “I’m worthless”
         1. Counter: Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
      2. Inferiority - "I'll never be as good, smart, or attractive as the people around me."
         1. Counter: Psalm 139:14 - "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
      3. Second Guess - “I have the wrong job” “I married the wrong person”
         1. Counter: Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
   5. Performance Lies
      1. Comparison - "THEY are doing it so much better."
         1. Counter: Galatians 6:4 - "Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else."
      2. Self-Criticism - "I know I’m not doing a good job."
         1. Counter:  Corinthians 15:10 - "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."
   6. Potential Lies
      1. Catastrophizing - "This whole thing is failing or will fail.”
         1. Counter: Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
      2. Abandonment - "People are all going to leave me."
         1. Counter: Hebrews 13:5 - "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"
   7. Perception Lies 
      1. Scrutiny - "Everybody is watching."
         1. Counter: Colossians 3:23 - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."
      2. Failure - “People think I’ll never amount to anything”
         1. Counter: 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"
   8. Relational Lies
      1. Isolation - "I have no one to talk to.”
         1. Counter: Matthew 28:20 - "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
      2. Abandonment Pt. 2 - “My close friends will leave me”
         1. Counter: Proverbs 18:24 - "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." 
2. The Consequences
   1. This leads to GUILT
      1. I “shouldas” 
         1. I should have studied harder
         2. I should have spent more time with my family
         3. I should have been more assertive
         4. I should have left home when I had the chance
      2. I “coulda”
   2. This can all be summarized in NEGATIVITY
      1. Paralysis 
      2. Disengagement
      3. Depression
      4. Quitting 
3. The Victory
   1. Get clarity on your TTP
      1. Journal
      2. Talk to a close friend or a pastor
      3. Talk to a counselor
   2. Recognize the pattern
      1. Sometimes you will slip back into a old TTP
   3. Intentionally disrupt the thought
      1. Visualize (a stop sign)
      2. Call someone you love
      3. Break the mold and go do something fun
   4. Learn how to affirm
      1. Create affirmations based upon your lies, doubts, and fears.
         1. Say them daily. 
         2. Flip the narrative
            1. “I wish I were more _________”
            2. “I am growing in __________”

Ultimately, the enemy wants to sink you, and you are predisposed to sink yourself! 

YOU MUST FIGHT!!!