Health Message (March 15, 2025)

Happy Sabbath Saints,

It's amazing to serve a God who's loving and who wants the best for us in every way. Life is great, but difficult things happen each day and God wants us to consider being happy in Him through it all. Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Let's look at how we can have positive thoughts in the midst of some difficult times and experiences.

Positive self-talk is good for you. What you say to yourself is important to your mental health and can affect other health areas. Self-talk is the internal dialogue in your head, the thoughts on repeat, your constant companion. Research shows that positive self-talk helps you improve your mindset, actions, and ultimately every area of your life.

Speaking kindly to yourself has surprising health benefits, including better physical well-being, increased energy, lowered stress, reduced pain, improved immune function, better health, increased athletic endurance, reduced risk for death and greater life satisfaction. Proverbs 17:32 says, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

Self-talk is a habit developed over a lifetime. Even if you've said negative things to yourself for years, it is possible to retrain your brain. With practice, you can notice when a negative thought comes to mind and replace it with a more positive, hopeful thought. Some things to practice:

Instead of saying this to yourself:	Tell yourself this:
"It's never going to get better."	"It's hard right now, but I believe I can do this. God help me."
"Nobody cares about me"	"Maybe nobody knows. I'll ask for a helping hand. Jesus show me who to talk to."
"I'm a loser."	"I'm a person who bounces back. God loves me. I will get back on my feet."
"I'm all alone."	"There are people who care. I won't stay silent. God show me who to reach out to."

Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

E.G. White wrote: "...many thoughts make up the unwritten history of a single day, and these thoughts have much to do with the formation of character. Our thoughts are to be strictly guarded for one impure thought makes a deep impression on the soul. An evil thought leaves an evil impress on the mind. If the thoughts are pure and holy, the man is better for having cherished them. By them the spiritual pulse is quickened and the power for doing good is increased. And as one drop of rain prepares the way for another in moistening the earth, so one good thought prepares the way for another." - Youth's Instructor (01/17/1901).

So let's practice positive thoughts.

(Cinnamon D. Kroll writings)

Blessings, Sandra Jackson