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Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast

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105 Thought Life: 6 Top Interviews for 2 Year Anniversary

Apr 15, 2021

Episode Summary:

This is a special episode because it marks our 2-yr anniversary of weekly podcast episodes to offer you a Biblically-based hope-filled perspective. For this episode, I’d like to highlight some of the favorite episodes from the past year or so.

It seems like I’ve spent the bulk of my career teaching about the importance of our thoughts and our words, so it’s not really much of a surprise that many of the episodes we’ve aired touch on the importance of our thought life.

  • We’ve talked about how to transform our thoughts and transform our life.
  • We’ve talked about how to overcome grumbling, complaining, and negativity.
  • We’ve talked about the importance of our words in our relationships and how to intentionally use our words to improve relationships.
  • We’ve shared how our thoughts often lead us down the spiral into comparison, and how to stop comparing ourselves to others.
  • We also had a several-week series on how to overcome worry, fear, and anxiety, and
  • we also talked about replacing the lies we’ve believed with the truth of God’s word, and so much more.


Quotables from the episode:
In episode 43, we talked with Sarah Geringer about How to Change Your Thoughts to Transform Your Life [click here to listen to her entire episode - How To Change Your Thoughts and Transform Your Life – Episode 43]. Sarah struggled with her thoughts for a long time before realizing she could do something about them. She shares a bit about her healing journey.

Sarah had so much more to say on the topic of How to Change Your Thoughts to Transform Your Life that I hope you’ll go back and listen to ep. 43, and read her guest blog post [click here to read 3 Easy Ways to Meditate on God’s Word].

In one of my favorite episodes, ep. 64, we talked with Tricia Goyer about the journey she and her family, including her ten children, embarked upon to Overcome Grumbling, Complaining, and Negativity [click here to listen to her entire episode - How to Overcome Grumbling, Complaining, and General Negativity – Episode 64]. She shared from her experiences in an effort to guide us on our own journey to overcome negativity in our own lives:

Who doesn’t want to let go of Grumbling, Complaining, and Negativity? I know I want to keep my thoughts and words positive and filled with gratitude. If you want to learn more about how to do this, go back and listen to episode 64 [click here to listen to her entire episode How to Overcome Grumbling, Complaining, and General Negativity – Episode 64] and read her guest blog post [click here to read Nothing to Grumble About].

Paying attention to our words and thoughts is not only important for our own lives, but it’s also important because our thoughts and words have an impact on those around us. Scripture says that our words can bring life or death, blessing or cursing. In episode 55, I chatted with Blythe Daniel and her mother, Helen McIntosh, about How to Improve our Mother/Daughter Relationships [click here to listen to her entire episode How To Improve Mother Daughter Relationships – Episode 55], and not too surprisingly, they shared the importance of our thoughts and words on our relationships with those around us.

While we can’t control the actions and responses of others, we can control what we think and what we say. If you want a better relationship with those you care about, I hope you’ll go back and listen to episode 55 [click here to listen to her entire episode How To Improve Mother Daughter Relationships – Episode 55] and read their guest blog post [click here to read The Package of Words: A Gift for Mom] and take to heart the suggestions that Blythe and Helen offered.

In episode 77, one of my favorite guests, Heather Creekmore returns to help us understand How to Stop Comparing Ourselves to Others [click here to listen to her entire episode How To Stop Comparing Yourself to Others – Episode 77]. She offers a very real, raw, and at times humorous testimony to the struggle she’s had with comparing herself to others. In this episode, we discuss how we so often seem to live under a “burden of better”…our desire to be a better spouse, a better parent, a better employee, a better friend, and even a better Christian. The advice she offers to help stop comparing ourselves to others, and to relinquish the burden of better might surprise you.”

I don’t know about you, but the tendency to compare myself to others keeps trying to rear its ugly head. It only takes a minute on social media or watching those in the pew in front of us in church on Sunday morning to know we don’t measure up. I loved what Heather shared about how we can effectively deal with that. If you ever struggle with the tendency to compare yourself with others, or the burden to be better, I hope you’ll go back and listen to episode 77 in full [click here to listen to her entire episode How To Stop Comparing Yourself to Others – Episode 77] and take the time to read her guest blog post [click here to read Releasing the Ideal Me].

In the past year, we probably did more episodes on worry, fear, and anxiety than any other topic. In the past year I’ve noticed so many more people struggling with worry, fear, and anxiety than ever before. In episode 58, we shared How to Practically Fight Anxious Thoughts and Win [click here to listen to her entire episode How to Practically Fight Anxious Thoughts and Win – Episode 58]. God never meant for us to live enshrouded in a cloud of anxiety or worry. In fact, He offered us His peace. In this episode, we tackle how to exchange our worry, fear, and anxiety with God’s peace.

Episode 58 was just one of several episodes where we dived deep into overcoming worry, fear, and anxiety. If this is something you struggle with, or you know someone who does, I hope you’ll take the time to go back and listen to the entire episode [click here to listen to her entire episode How to Practically Fight Anxious Thoughts and Win – Episode 58], read the associated blog post [click here to read What Can I Do When I Worry or Become Anxious About the Future?], and maybe even the other episodes about where worry, fear, and anxiety come from and what we can do about them.

The last snippet I want to highlight today is from episode 100. I loved that episode—not just because it was a milestone 100th episode, and not just because it aired on my birthday week, but because I spend the better part of my career teaching others to recognize The Lies We Believe versus the Truth of God’s Word [click here to listen to her entire episode Lies We Believe vs. Truths From The Bible About Our Identity – Episode 100]. This has not always been easy for me, and it’s something I still have to put into practice, but when we can do this, so many other things in our life fall into place.

In episode 100, we gave many more examples than we could show in that short snippet. I would encourage you to go back and listen to the episode in its entirety [click here to listen to her entire episode Lies We Believe vs. Truths From The Bible About Our Identity – Episode 100], read the associated blog post [click here to read Finding Your Identity in Christ: 20 Truths from God’s Word], see which lies you resonate with, and then hear what God’s truth is in response.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s anniversary episode. There were so many good episodes that I had a hard time narrowing it down to just a few. I’d love to hear what your favorite episodes have been, as well as who you think could offer a Biblically-based HFP that you’d like to hear on the podcast!

If something in this episode resonated with you, or you think it’d be an encouragement to others, would you consider sharing it with others who may need a jolt of hope today? Each week we offer you multiple free resources in the form of podcasts episodes, blog posts, social media posts, and memes. It would mean the world to me if you would subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform, and then rate and review it to help others be able to find a Biblically-based Hope Filled Perspective. Until next week, may you have a hope-filled week!

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Hosted By: Dr. Michelle Bengtson
Audio Technical Support: Bryce Bengtson