Every day we talk to ourselves. We have an internal dialogue perfectly captured by J. R. R. Tolkin in his depiction of the character Gollum in ‘The Lord Of The Rings’. Originally known as Smeagol, he is a hobbie corrupted by the ring who is later known as Gollum, and he essentially chose a wrong, murderous path because of his desire for the ring. We are told he both loved and hated the ring as he loved and hated himself, and the author gives us insight into this dilemma by sharing his internal conversations which reflect this tension, a tension Paul describes as being the way of the flesh versus the way of the Spirit.
Talking to ourselves is something we do out loud as children, but the older we get, the more these conversations are internalised, rarely discussed and often even unnoticed consciously. Nonetheless, these conversations are powerful and often the source of internal conflict, creating dissonance within us as we wrestle with disquiet, anxiety, fear, envy and dread. We often try to suppress the internal voices that wage war on our minds, but the only real solution to these struggles is truth.
This is why the BIble tells us to speak words of truth out loud. It’s not enough to know truth; we have to declare it. Heb 13:6 says, So we say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”; Joel 3:10 says, ‘Let the weakling say,“I am strong!”’ Jesus, when faced with the devil’s temptations, quoted the word of God back to him. If we are to silence the voices of doubt, anxiety, fear and dread, we must do so with the truth of God’s word. Only by speaking truth can we hope to have victory over other conversations!
