Creating & Breaking Cycles
Discover how to break destructive cycles and what it takes to create constructive cycles.
Cycles, we live in them. Since we subconsciously rehearse emotional and spiritual pain, the cycles of pain and disappointment are recognized more readily. At least the result of the cycle, the pain, the hurt, and disappointment, are familiar foes. Statements we say to ourselves, like "This happens a lot," is our way of recognizing the cycle. We vow to do whatever we can never to experience that uncomfortable situation, but without identifying the elements of that cycle, which resulted in the outcome.
We live in cycles, but not based on the planet's movement. Our actions, choices, thoughts, and attitudes are the framework for our life cycles. We live in the cycles we've built. We are not a victim of a cycle that crept up on us during the night while we were asleep. We built the cycles we live in one thought at a time.
Thoughts are resilient creatures! Not every thought floating around your mind originated from within you. Whether the thought latched onto you from an image flashed in your face, a whisper you heard, or an aggressive, unclean spiritual deposit, thoughts come into our minds from various sources.
If breaking destructive cycles is necessary for you to be "more than a conqueror" Romans 8:37, then you shouldn't take possession of every thought that streaks cross your mind.
On the constructive side, you must take possession of every thought that builds a better cycle for your life. So where can we begin shifting between which thoughts to take possession and which to cast away?
Begin by taking inventory of what you've been thinking. Then, document the thoughts traveling through your mind for a few days. Make sure to note the soft, almost fleeting thoughts. If you find your attention drifting away from the tasks at hand, pause and document the thought that was able to lead you out of focus. You will be surprised at the mass of thoughts traveling through your mind and what they represent.
A work of caution, the representation of these thoughts is not on the surface. You'll have to uncover them. Beneath those thoughts lies your feelings and attitudes. Before long, you will make decisions based on these thoughts. These thoughts and attitudes have formed your decisions and hence your choices. Our decisions are building cycles.
I've never been associated with anyone who set their goal to live a life in destructive cycles. But on the other hand, I have known people whose lives are the textbook definition of destructive cycles.
Proverbs 23:9 AMP admonishes us about the wasteful actions of speaking wisdom to people who live in destructive cycles.
"Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the godly wisdom of your words."
Godly wisdom is despised instead of possessed as thoughts valuable in building constructive cycles. Creating constructive cycles breaks the back of any victim mentality. How many people groups are constantly being told they are victims? Far too many and far too often. From social organizations to church pulpits, it is the message blasted across the cultural megaphone. Doublemindedness is evident as Christians continue to build depreciating cycles and love Jesus simultaneously.
There is a more excellent way! Choose to create constructive cycles. As a citizen in the Kingdom of God, I believe it's my duty to choose this option for my life, family, and those I provide spiritual covering and nurture.
Proverbs 23:7 KJV gives us a road map to creating constructive cycles, "...as he thinks in his heart, so is he". We build constructive cycles with each thought, primarily about ourselves, that we have in our hearts.
Recently I shepherded a group of Believers through a 23-day positional consecration. One of the components I taught is the spiritual relevance of declarations. I instructed each participant to write declarations for segments of their life. On the final day of consecration, each person presented their declarations to the group. What began as timidity concluded with confidence and authority.
Declarations are not the same as affirmations. Let me say that again for the people sitting in the "back of the room". Declarations are not the same as affirmations. The words are not synonyms. The origin and responsibility of fulfillment come from different spiritual sources. Declarations are the spiritual mortar necessary to build the cycles God desires to have present in our life.
CYCLE BUILDING WORKSHEET - FREE DOWNLOAD
As Christians who live in harmony with scripture and submit to God, we can tear down destructive cycles and build constructive cycles, but we do so supernaturally. We are not relying on our own positive and wishful thinking. Instead, we are using the spiritual process God has provided so that we live what God has revealed to us.
What are you thinking about through the course of your day?
In the movie, Hidden Figures, one of my favorite scenes was when the team of mathematicians was briefed on the upcoming mission to the moon. The challenge they faced was determining the math that would allow the shuttle to break out of orbit. Otherwise, the shuttle would continue in rotation (cycle). While the group stands silent, Ms. Johnson produces the answer, "old math"! She remembered an old mathematical system that would work for breaking out of rotation.
You see the connection, right?
Building constructive cycles by thinking upon the declarations Holy Spirit has prompted within your heart is like "old math". The wisdom of God has been forgotten in the heat of painful cycles, but I'm writing this blog to remind Believers that the answers and freedom you seek have always been present. The Scriptures are the "old math" found inside a book that needs to be taken off the shelf and opened.
Start today. Start creating cycles in your life that build stability, joy, and moments you will be proud to remember.
CYCLE BUILDING WORKSHEET - FREE DOWNLOAD
I've created a Cycle Building Worksheet to assist you in breaking destructive cycles.
