Do you talk to yourself? Go on and admit it – you’re amongst friends and you’ve got plenty of company. Is it the first sign of madness? Only when you answer yourself! I don’t know about that. The prodigal son both spoke to himself and answered himself (Luke 15:17) and it was one of the sanest things he ever did. The fact of the matter is, we all speak to ourselves all the time. And a lot of what we say is repetitious. It may not be audible, but nonetheless we speak even with our self more than we speak with any other. We know that we can just as easily speak to God silently as audibly. We have been speaking certain things to ourselves for a long time.
We all live by mantras. What’s a mantra? According to Collin’s Dictionary it was originally a psalm of praise from Hindu literature, but it came to mean any sacred word or syllable used as an object of concentration and embodying some aspect of spiritual power. Now, it is used of any phrase we keep repeating, and whilst we may not do this audibly, we all have maxims which we keep repeating to ourselves and which thereby govern our lives (Prov. 23:7).
We don’t always know where we get these mantras, or why we choose them. One I struggle with is This job is only worth five minutes. Of course Murphy’s law kicks in and a job you anticipated to take 5 minutes ends up taking 5 hours! Mainly “honeydos”. What magnifies the frustration is the mantra that you start with – this job is only worth five minutes. Naturally, when it takes longer than that we feel like we’re wasting time and could be doing something else. What I’m trying to learn is a more realistic mantra – this job will take till it’s finished. Like the sign over the old blacksmith’s shop – The Hours Are Till The Work Isn’t.
Some people have an unwritten mantra in life that says, in effect, I must not get busy and I must not get tired. In fact, you would think that tiredness was second only to AIDS or malaria in terms of severity of disease. With that approach to life it doesn’t take much to feel busy – two appointments in a day will bring on a panic attack – Ooh, I’m starting to get busy!!
Change your mantra. Say, I will be busy and I will get tired, I will be busy and I will get tired, but this is alright, this is the way of the Lord. Jesus was a busy man and went to sleep, tired, at night. He sat down at a well, tired, in the middle of the day in John 4. The scripture says, Sweet is the sleep of the labouring man (Eccles. 5:12). If you think that the object of life is not to get busy or tired then you will not accomplish much in life. The apostle Paul was often in weariness (2 Cor. 11:27); 1 Thess 1:3 speaks of the work of faith and the labour of love. Redeem the time.
Some mantras are quite common among the human population: I’m no good. Yes, but get over it and realise you’ll never be good for there is but One good and that is God. You will always have faults in this life, but realise we must do something with our imperfect life. Remember the condemnation that came upon the one-talent man? We can be made acceptable in the Lord (Eph. 1:6).
I’m ugly and stupid. Yes, but get over it and move on. Who made the ugly? Who made the stupid? Did not God? (cf. Moses in Ex. 4:10,11). God made more ordinary-looking people and people of ordinary intelligence than He made “beautiful people” and “Einstein geniuses”. Our expectations of the ideal are such that even those that adorn the covers of the beauty magazines have their pictures touched up with an air brush or digitally altered to make them look perfect. God has made everything beautiful in its time, but it’s such a short time – like the fading flower. Say, By the grace of God I am what I am!
What are some good mantras to live by? The apostle Paul said, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and then he added, I am the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). Is this self-destructive to say this? Is it damaging to the ego? I guess it is damaging to the ego but in this case that’s a good thing. Surveys reveal that most students think they are better than the median. A little thought of the mathematics involved will show you that it is impossible for most students to be above the median. We generally don’t need help with our ego. Honest appraisal is healthy (cf. Matt.3:9; 1 John 1:8). Who said so? Paul, again – cf. Phil.3:6 ….concerning the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless. He used the wrong measuring stick but he learnt to have a better estimation of himself.
What about this as a mantra; I am an unprofitable servant (Luke 17:10). We can never put God in our debt. The man who has done his best has only done that which he could have been compelled to do. The Pharisee who went down to the temple to pray, patting himself on the back and despising others was not heard by God. What will God accept? Ps. 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God thou will not despise. If these two mantras seem to be a little negative, they are not the only ones we should say to ourselves.
God loves me (John 3:16) is a biblical truth worthy to be a mantra. There is no boasting in this because the vilest sinner can say this. Nobody who ends up in Hell will be able to say “I’m here because I’m one of the ones that God didn’t love”. Many people don’t understand this: they allow the trials of life to speak another mantra in their ears (cf. Mal. 1:2; Hab. 3:17,18; Rom. 8:32; 37-39).
One of the common mantras that are so destructive is, I cannot. eg. “I cannot go outside for there is a lion in the street and I will be slain” (Prov. 22:13). The steward who said, “I cannot dig”. We need to change it to I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13). Paul knew he would be strengthened by God to meet whatever circumstances life would throw up at him. He didn’t face life alone and neither do we. We sing, “I know not today what the morrow may bring…”. How true, but whatever life dishes out I will be able to handle it. This is not boastful omnipotence, but a recognition of help from above – 1 Cor. 1:31; Ps. 121. So we need to say,
The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me (Heb. 13:6; Ps. 118:6). This word “helper” is a strong word – it is not equivalent to “offsider” or “apprentice”, but rather speaks of one who is a “succourer, rescuer” (cf. Heb. 2:18). When the trials of life rise up like a monstrous wave about to break over our heads and pound us into oblivion and wash us away, we must say, If God be for me, who can be against me? (Rom. 8:31)
Let’s see, what’s another good mantra? I am a stranger and a pilgrim (as we sing “this world is not my home” Heb. 11:13,14). When it “seems the fortunes of life frown and pass us by” we need to tell ourselves that I am just a stranger and a pilgrim passing through. Or conversely, we can be very blessed in what this world has to offer and get very “this-world” focused. We can be busy laying up treasures on earth and forget about Heaven. Many Christians over the years have fitted into the category of the seed sown among thorns (Luke 8:7,14). Orthodox Jews, even rich ones, leave a part of their house unfinished to remind them that earth is not their eternal home.
Somebody has observed that if you can worry you can also meditate. To worry is to think about things continually – so is meditation. The difference is what we think about – what we say to ourselves. What mantras do you live by?