Episode 23 - Our Internal World: Part 2 of 3
Brett and Jake continue the three part series about the internal world. After Brett shares how his internal world reacted when getting home from a long day at work, the value of examining the stories we tell ourselves are discussed. Brett and Jake then offer a simple 3 part process for navigating our internal worlds. The podcast ends with a discussion of how a core reality of the Christian life is allowing Jesus to enter and heal our inner worlds.
Key Points
There can be wisdom in not addressing something with someone if they are very likely incapable of handling the truth
When you experience someone having a strong reaction to you, you are experiencing their internal world (thoughts, emotions, desires, interpretations, prior wounds/hurts)
One powerful part of our internal world is the story we tell ourselves. We need to be very careful about believing these “stories” and allowing them to take root in our hearts.
Our internal worlds are very active
The internal observer is recognizing the rich, detailed story that’s inside my head and then wondering, “Is this story true?”
Three steps for working with your internal worlds are: 1) Awareness of thoughts, emotions, desires (TED) 2) Examine TED, 3) Ask yourself, “Is this true?”
When highly emotional, our capacity for unbiased awareness is greatly reduced.
We make interpretations and agreements very often. Few put meaning to things (comments, interactions, experiences) and then we either agree or disagree with our interpretation.
The enemy is involved in those interpretations
Interpretations and agreements repeated over time changes the brain
We usually have three responses to threats: fight, flight, or freeze. Leaving our typical responses to threat unexamined can cause various problems.
How we coped as children rarely works in our adult relationships
It’s very important to regularly examine our internal worlds and bring in the truth (prayer, journalling, talking to a trust friend)
You could say that our hearts have brain cells; we learn
100% of men have an internal world and every one of us are making interpretations and agreements that are changing the course of our lives
We either choose to live according to reality or not…the reality is that we have a soul and an inner world
Jesus wants to come into our inner worlds and meet us there and save us in them
We are invited to look at the inner world of the people in the Scriptures
Discussion Questions:
What struck you from this episode?
What’s your general feeling of having an inner world? Do you like it? Is it bothersome? Do you not really care? Why?
Can you relate to Brett’s story of misinterpreting someone and having a strong internal reaction? How?
Brett shared about a “story in his head.” What are some of the stories you tell yourself about life? Marriage? Work? God?
What are some ways you could examine whether or not the stories you tell yourself are actually true?
What would you say your typical response to threat is, fight, flight, or freeze?
What are some ways you learned to cope as a child? Do you do similar things as an adult? Does it work?
How do you react to the statement, “Jesus wants to come into our inner worlds, and save us in them”?
