Self-fullfilling prophecies

Hello, my name is Alyson, and I will be your personal trainer for today.  First of all ladies, don't be afraid to lift weights.  It's good for you.  But most of all, heed this:

Our words and our thoughts become self-fulfilling prophecies.  If you say, "I'm always nervous when I get on planes," What is going to happen the next time you get on a plane?  You're going to be nervous. Sometimes we so closely identify ourselves with our defects that they become who we are.  Our identity as a person begins to lie in our faults.  I heard these three things just in the last two days from clients and friends: "I'm so clumsy."  "I've always been chubby."  "I'm not a finisher."

As a man thinks, so is he.  Your beliefs determine your behavior.  If these negative thoughts are what you're saying about yourself, you are creating self-fullfilling prophecies.  You may say that you don't really believe these things, but your behavior speaks differently.

As a believer, identify yourself in Christ.  "I am a believer in Jesus Christ that struggles with drugs.  My name is John."  Our identity must be in Jesus, not in our struggle.  We all have hurts, hang-ups, and habits.  Don't let them become your identity.

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  2 Cor 5:16-17