In this month’s Breaking Free, we are going to discuss breaking free from the voices in your head.  I can hear you now, “Whoa, Jamie, voices in my head?  I am not crazy!”

           I understand that would be most people’s reaction.  So let me tell you a story to explain what I mean.

           Recently, my life has completely changed.  It is exactly the opposite of what it was just a year ago.  With change comes excitement and joy as you experience new things.  However, it also brings new challenges, and often the enemy tries to use these times to strike.  That’s what happened to me recently.

            As my scope of ministry has expanded, I came in contact with, well, I’ll say a difficult person.  This person was used by the enemy to constantly try and attack me.  They used everything you could think of to get to me…doubt, fears, accusations, personal attacks…you name it, they did it.  Thankfully, the Holy Spirit helped me to discern that the enemy was using this person to try and discourage me and stop this ministry.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, I was able to withstand all of the enemy’s attacks through this person.

            Then one day, they came at me with something that was totally out of the blue.  But this time the spiritual punch landed.  Immediately, I sank.  For a day or two, I really struggled with feeling like a failure and worthless to God.

            Why was I able to resist all the other attacks and walk away victorious, but was unable to defeat this one attack?  Because this person hit a weak area in my head.  What do I mean?

            It was an area in which my dad had repeatedly pounded into my head that I was a failure.  He felt that my choice in this certain area made me a failure.  He told me I would never amount to anything in life.  Over the years, I became very insecure about this area.

            I am not going to go into specifics about the area. I’ll just say it was not a sin or something bad.  It was a commitment I made to God that, to my dad, made no sense.  So he repeatedly hammered me (and anyone else who made the same commitment to God), for it.  When my “friend” who had been attacking me over the past few weeks said what they said, it triggered my mind to go back and replay my dad’s criticism in my head.  The voices in my head, my father’s harsh words, were used to temporarily cripple me.

           Thankfully, I came to discern what had happened.  I was not only able to overcome the depression that came from the attack, but I was also able to overcome an area of weakness in my life. 

           I was able to face the pain of my father’s rejection.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, I could face the pain, forgive my dad, and realize that I was not a failure in God’s eyes.  I was able to get rid of the voice in my heart telling me I wasn’t worth anything or good enough.

            This is what I mean by the voices in my head.  These voices are the lies people have spoken to us throughout our lives that wounded us.  Instead of dealing with the wounds, we bury them and suppress them.  Then later someone says something to us, and like gas on a fire, these words enflame us in painful memories.

            Some examples of the voices men hear are:

“You’re stupid”

“You’re lazy”

“You’re ugly”

“You are worthless”

“You were an accident”

“You’re hopeless”

“I hate you”

           These words were spoken to men by moms, dads, teachers, girlfriends, and friends.  They stung when they hit, and they left wounds.   Now as grown men, we guard these areas in our lives.  Then out of the blue, someone says something, sometimes innocently, sometimes maliciously.  But as soon as we hear the words, they trigger the insecurity and pain from years ago.  Left unchecked, men spiral out of control.

            Often you hear about men who spiral into drugs, women, alcohol, and other sins to deal with pain when people trigger the voices.  This is why it is vital to allow God to heal the wounds and undo the memory.

            So how do you do it? There is no easy way. You have to be willing to face the pain.  You have to let God bring back to your memory the times the words were spoken.  Remember the way you felt and the effects it had on your life.  Remember the hurt and pain.  Remember how you felt about the person. 

            Once you have done this, the next step is to tell God how it made you feel.  Then comes the hard part.  Forgiveness.

           You have to forgive the person who spoke the words over you.  You have to be willing to let them off the hook and choose to forgive. If it is still possible, tell the person you forgive them.  Then you have to ask God to forgive you for holding unforgiveness towards this person.  Forgiveness is key to breaking free of the voices.

           Finally, you need to ask God to change the way you think.  Ask Him to show you how He sees you and how He feels about you. Let God’s view of you replace the warped view that was burned into your soul by someone else.  Read the Bible and renew your mind.  God’s Word is full of words describing how God views His children.

           There is freedom from the voices in your head.  You can break free.  It does not have to hold you captive any longer. God helped me, and I know He will help you, too.