Scripts

Occasionally a friend or family member will make a mistake or think they have made a mistake, and out of their mouth comes self-condemnation.

“I’m so <fill in the blank>.”

“I’m so stupid.”

“I’m so clumsy.”

You get the idea. Rarely, if ever, am I actually thinking that about them. Sometimes I don’t even notice. But there is a mental script running through their heads (and if I’m honest, sometimes mine). If they have been or are being told that they are stupid or clumsy or whatever mean label someone gave them, either out of nasty spirit or out of critical spirit, then they may have actually come to believe that about themselves.

I think it’s also possible that their mental script could be more along the lines of not actually feeling that way about themselves but rather being afraid the observer thinks that about them in that moment. Here the mental script may be more about the pursuit of being liked or thought well of or just not wanting to appear less than perfect. So the mental script prompts them to call out what has happened as some sort of defect in themselves BEFORE the other person does. To say what one believes the observer must be thinking about them.

I’m here to tell you I don’t believe the other person is thinking about you at all. Most people only think about themselves in any given moment. To think about someone else requires active engagement and presence in the world, and the world is full of distractions.

However, you can rest assured God is actively thinking about you and as His beloved creation, I don’t believe He thinks anything that isn’t loving.

So burning those mental scripts which have no basis in God’s love is probably a good idea.