Disarming Cognitive Distortions With Biblical Truth

No one is immune from negative thinking.  Sometimes, it is worse than others and for some, these negative thoughts can lead to mental health issues such as depression or anxiety.  Francine Costanza has organized some common forms of negative thinking and then given us a way to challenge those negative thoughts with Biblical truth.  Here is what she has to say:

It has been said that everything we need for right living can be found in the Bible. But sometimes the scriptures can be hard to relate to or we have to read quite a few chapters before we come across what we need at the moment.  If we are in a depressed state, it can be especially hard to open the Bible and feel encouraged.  Fortunately God uses people in modern times to show us His wisdom and truth in new ways which can help us change our thinking and feel better, leading to positive change.

Aaron Beck is the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who developed cognitive therapy. This type of therapy focuses on our thinking, the premise being that if we change our thoughts we will change how we feel.  Dr. Beck came up with numerous cognitive distortions that are often the cause of anxiety, fear and depression.  These are ways of thinking which seem real to us but are actually irrational, exaggerated or totally untrue.  These deceptive thoughts can keep us stuck in negativity and unwanted emotions. It is important for all of us to pay attention when we are feeling uncomfortable and to examine what we are thinking, to see if our thoughts are reflecting God’s truth or an inaccurate, self-defeating perspective.

The distortions that Dr. Beck uncovered have Biblical answers that show us what is true and how God wants us to think about Himself, ourselves and our circumstances. Below are six of Dr. Beck’s cognitive distortions and some Bible verses which can be used as healthy responses to these distorted thoughts:

• All or nothing thinking:  Seeing things as black or white, only looking at things one way, using terms like “always,” “every,” or “never.”  

1 Corinthians 12:17-18   If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

Isaiah 55:8  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.…”

• Overgeneralizing: Coming to a conclusion that one negative event will continue to repeat itself over and over again.

Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

• Catastrophizing:  You expect disaster and worry about a problem, thinking it’s going to get worse and worse.

Philipians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  

Matthew 6:25-27  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 

• Filtering:  Taking the negative details and magnifying them while filtering out the positives.

Isaiah 43:1-3  But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob,  he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;  I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;  and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Psalm 23:4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

• Mind Reading:  Thinking you know what others are thinking and feeling toward you and assuming it’s negative, without any evidence.

Galatians 1:10  Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. 

Romans 8:31  What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

• Emotional Reasoning:  Deciding that because something feels a certain way, it must be that way.  

Proverbs 3:5-6   Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18   So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.