And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. John 8:32


Monday, March 16, 2009

How to Make Yourself Truth Journal

Studies show that over a period of three days we tend to remember:

• 10% of what we read
• 20% of what we hear
• 30% of what we see
• 70% of what we say and write

Maybe that's why truth journaling works so well. There's something about writing the truth that helps you remember it and act it out.

The question is, how do you get yourself to truth journal when you don’t feel like doing it? Here are five things that can help:

1. Truth journal at the same time every day.

When I was struggling with writing my son (who likes to write) gave me some good advice: “Mom, just pick a time to write and do it at the same time every day—it will get easier as time goes by.” He was right—it did get easier. If you don’t have the time or the drive to truth journal every time you break your boundaries, try truth journaling once a day instead.

2. Set an easy goal.

If you don’t enjoy truth journaling, make sure you set a reachable goal. It should be small enough that you can make yourself do it even if you don’t feel like doing it. You could set a time limit goal (five minutes a day) or a writing goal (one entry a day).

3. Get your ducks in a row.

If you have to search for a notebook and pen every time you journal, you won’t want to journal. Make it easy to write by having everything ready to write and easy to find. If you’re going to use lie-truth charts print a bunch of them out. You can download these charts from the sample content tab at www.truthwaypress.com.

4. Truth journal about truth journaling before you start to truth journal.

I know this sounds a little crazy, but it will help you find out why you don’t want to truth journal. Here are some of the common lies that might be keeping you from truth journaling and the truths that will change your attitude.

1. It’s too much work.

Truth: It’s not too much work when I think about what it will accomplish in my life. It’s worth a bit of work to be set free from emotional eating.

2. I don’t have time to do it when I need to do it.

Truth: It doesn’t have to be done at a specific time to help me change the way I think. (Note: It is true, though, that if you wait until the next day to truth journal, it will be hard to remember your thoughts.)

3. It takes too much time.

Truth: It’s worth the time. And five minutes isn’t too much time.

4. I’ll just do it in my head.

Truth: Although doing it in my head is better than nothing, writing it down will be much more effective. It’s worth taking the extra time to write it down.

5. I’ll do it later.


Truth: The longer I wait, the less I’ll feel like doing it. I better do it now.

6. I’ll just force myself to (stick to my boundaries, etc) so I don’t need to truth journal.

Truth: I can only force myself to (stick to my boundaries, etc) for so long. Sooner or later I’ll break down and do what I feel like doing. It would be far better for me to put my efforts into forcing myself to truth journal—because that will change me permanently.

7. It doesn’t work.

Truth: It doesn’t work as quickly and as easily as I want it to work, but it does work. If I'm persistent and consistent, it will eventually change the way I think.

5. Pray about it.

Never forget that we're in a spiritual battle. Satan would just as soon see Christians focus on their behavior and not the renewing of their minds. Why? Because if we think like the world thinks we're going to act like the world acts - no matter how much we focus on our behavior.

If we want lasting change in our behavior, we need to take the time to renew our minds.

3 comments:

merrysfaithwalk said...

Barb,
I just had to share with you that I am doing your book again. The first time I was dealing with anger over a relationship. God has helped me so much in this relationship that now I am trying to deal with the eating problem. Just doing the study helped so much; now I am doing truth journaling over the food; I did anger the first time because I knew I was sinning and MUST deal with it. God has helped me so much. I wonder if you have written anything else. Your Bible study helped me grow closer to God; that is always my goal. I hope I lose weight, but that is up to Him.

Unknown said...

Merry, That is so exciting to hear. God actually taught me truth journaling through a relationship I was struggling with. I started out "thinking positive" and that's when I realized that many of the negative thoughts I was having were actually lies.

I'm working on a Sunday school curriculum for teenagers based on the principles of Freedom from Emotional Eating - it's not directed at eating but at bad habits and negative emotions. It's interesting - I'm teaching it to a group of teenage girls right now and asked them to choose something to work on during the Bible study. Do you know what the biggest group was? The ones working on frustration with other people - apparently this is a problem for girls as well as women. I'm also finding that junior high is the perfect time to start working on these things (I have girls from 12 to 18 in the class.)

I also am working on the same study for women, but in a regular Bible study format (like Freedom from Emotional Eating).

Writing continues to be something I'm willing to do for God rather than liking to do for myself, so it's still not easy, but God is helping me. (And today you helped me by writing your words of encouragement - thanks!)

Barb

Rachat de credit said...

Thank you it has been a great help, now to make ourself truth journal is without a doubt simple with the help of your recommendation. Thank you