“Speak over yourself, encourage yourself, in the Lord.”

Hello Darling,

“Speak over yourself, encourage yourself, in the Lord.”

This is a line in one of my favorite gospel songs entitled Encourage Yourself.

Recently, I have been feeling extremely discouraged. From not getting accepted into certain organizations here on campus to not passing certain assignments I felt like a failure. I began to question if I was good enough. Little did I know, all I needed to do was do was speak over myself and encourage myself in the Lord. I will share with you how to use that line from the song to deal with my discouraged state in hopes that I can encourage you.

Speak over yourself.

This statement reminds me of one of my favorite quotes “speak your dreams into existence”.

To me that means in order to reach success you must talk about what you want to succeed in and believe that it will come true. To “speak over myself” I created a vision board! I taped eight pieces of paper to my wall and wrote a question at the top of each one.

 Some examples of those questions are, “what makes you happy” and “what do hope to accomplish in the next four years?” Next, in different colored markers, I began answering the questions. Now on my wall, in vibrant colors, I have who I want to be not for everyone to see but more importantly for myself to see.

Encourage yourself.

 After claiming my future I then began to implement positive things in my life for encouragement. The first thing I did was make a positive playlist. I personally LOVE music so having a positive playlist was a necessity. As I created my vision board I had songs playing like “Video” by India Arie and “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. Also for encouragement, I downloaded the “daily bible verse” and the “daily inspirational quote” apps. As you can probably guess by the titles these apps send me a bible verse and a positive quote every day.

The apps give me daily boosts of encouragement.

In the Lord.

This last part of the line in the song is probably the most important. Although I created a board of what I want my future to look like I really don’t have control, and trust me I don’t want it. I would rather give control of my life to someone who knows me better than I know myself. To someone who knows every move I have made and will make and knows exactly where I need to be.

 God is the only being that fits that description. When I was in my discouraged state I was overwhelmed with everything that was going on in my life. To stop the madness all I had to do was hand over the reins to God because he knows what’s best for me.

Let me quote a section from an inspirational poem that I read recently “The Road of Life” to illustrate what I mean.” This poem describes life as a bike ride with Jesus.

It states, “When Jesus Christ took the lead, he knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds. All I could do was hang on! Even though it looked like madness, he said, “pedal!” I was worried and was anxious and asked, “Where are you taking me?” He laughed and didn't answer, and I began to learn to trust him. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure, and when I’d say “I’m scared”, he’d lean back and touch my hand. I gained Love, Peace, Patience, Understanding, Knowledge, Wisdom, Forgiveness, Acceptance, Grace, and Joy; all free gifts to take on the journey, My Lord’s and mines. “

1. Get through whatever you are going through and know that you will be successful.
2. Encourage yourself by implementing positive thoughts and actions into your life.
3. Remember that God is willing to be in control of your life if you let him. Once you let God steer your life he will never leave you or forsake you. I would like to encourage you all to attend some form of church service and if you don’t have a church home and you live in DC feel free to visit me at my church 13^th NW and Irving street NW. (Street Church of Christ on the corner of 13^th)

I hope this post has encouraged you!

Oh,

And Remember Ladies, Stay C.L.A.S.S.Y.!

-Admiria Cooper