Have you ever looked in the mirror and before you even realize it, you’re picking yourself apart?
I look old.
I need to lose weight.
I don’t like what I see.
Maybe your insecure thoughts have nothing to do with the mirror. Something doesn’t go the way you planned and suddenly your mind starts spiraling.
What if this doesn’t work out?
What am I going to do?
How am I going to fix this?
Here’s the question I want us to ask:
If we know what God says, why do we keep having thoughts that lie to us?
Because knowing God’s Word and actually applying God’s Word in the moment when our thoughts are loud are two very different things.
What if you could learn to catch that thought, recognize the lie underneath it, and agree with what God says instead?
That’s what we’re talking about today on the Go to God First podcast with Kim Dolan Leto.
My guest, Susie Mendoza, shares a simple three-step practice that can help us take our thoughts captive and apply God’s Word right in the middle of our everyday lives.
And I love this because it isn’t about adding another thing to your already full schedule. You can practice it while you’re putting on your makeup, brushing your hair, making your coffee, driving to work, or taking a walk.
Download Susie’s Application & Truth Guide Here
And the three steps are so simple:
Acknowledge the thought.
Name the lie beneath it.
Agree with what God says is true.
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In This Episode
Susie and I talk about:
- How to recognize the lie hiding underneath an insecure or negative thought
- Why you don’t have to believe every thought that enters your mind
- Susie’s three-step Acknowledge → Name → Agree method
- How to apply God’s Word to thoughts about aging, body image, insecurity, fear, overwhelm, and control
- What a Mirror Moment is and how to have one
- The difference between applying biblical truth and relying on affirmations, positive thinking, manifestation, or “my truth”
- How everyday routines can become reminders of what God says is true
- How Susie moved forward when God put something on her heart, even when she was afraid
You Don’t Have to Believe Every Thought You Think
This is something I want you to remember:
A thought can show up without being invited, but you don’t have to give it a seat at the table.
We can have a thought so many times that we stop questioning it.
I’m not enough. I’m failing. Nothing is ever going to change.
But just because a thought feels true doesn’t mean it agrees with God’s truth.
That is why Scripture tells us to take our thoughts captive.
“…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 NKJV
Instead of allowing a thought to run unchecked through your mind, you can stop and ask:
Is this true of who God says I am?
That question can change everything.
The 3 Steps to Apply God’s Word to Your Thoughts
Susie’s framework gives us something practical to do when those thoughts show up.
1. Acknowledge the Thought
Don’t pretend the thought isn’t there. But don’t automatically own it either.
You can acknowledge, I’m thinking that I look old, without turning that thought into I’m old, unattractive, and losing my value.
There’s a big difference.
Susie explains that acknowledging the thought is not denying it, but it also doesn’t mean you have to accept it as truth.
2. Name the Lie Underneath It
This is where I think this gets so powerful.
Ask yourself:
What am I actually believing underneath this thought?
Take “I look old.”
The deeper lie might be:
My value is decreasing because I’m getting older.
Now we’ve gotten to the real issue.
It isn’t simply a wrinkle, a number on the scale, or something you don’t like in the mirror.
It’s what you’ve allowed that thing to mean about who you are.
Susie explains that our self-criticism can become tied to the belief that our worth comes from our appearance.
And once you can name the lie, you can stop automatically agreeing with it.
3. Agree With What God Says Is True
Now we go to God first. Not to our feelings. Not to what culture says gives us value. Not to another affirmation.
To God’s Word.
For the woman looking in the mirror thinking, I look old, Susie points to the truth of Ephesians 1:6: in Christ, we are “accepted in the Beloved.”
Your response becomes:
My worth has never been rooted in my appearance. My identity is secure in Christ.
That’s very different from trying to convince yourself to think something positive.
You’re choosing to agree with something that doesn’t change: God’s truth.
Try a “Mirror Moment”
One of my favorite parts of this conversation is Susie’s Mirror Moment.
Think about how much time we spend looking in the mirror.
We’re brushing our teeth, doing our hair, putting on makeup, getting dressed, and so often that is exactly when the criticism starts.
Look at my skin.
Look at my stomach.
I look tired.
I don’t look like I used to.
Susie created the Mirror Moment because those repetitive routines give us an opportunity to practice something different. Instead of letting the same negative thoughts play on repeat, we can use that moment to Acknowledge → Name → Agree.
And then keep getting ready!
You don’t have to turn it into another 30-minute morning routine.
Curl your hair. Apply your makeup. Make your coffee.
But now you’re doing it while agreeing with what God says about you.
I shared something in this conversation that God gave me years ago when I was writing Fit God’s Way:
Find His perfection in your reflection.
And another reminder I come back to often:
Jesus is the cure for what makes me insecure.
Your body will change. Your appearance will change. Your circumstances will change.
God’s Word doesn’t.
This Isn’t Positive Thinking or Manifestation
This distinction matters.
Susie isn’t teaching us to replace a negative thought with a nicer thought because the nicer thought makes us feel better.
This isn’t “my truth.”
It isn’t manifestation.
It isn’t a mantra.
It isn’t trying to muster up enough confidence to convince yourself that everything is going to be okay.
Susie calls her practice Application & Truth because the truth we are applying is God’s truth. We go to Scripture and agree with what God says rather than relying on ourselves.
That’s the difference.
We aren’t trying to think our way into a better life.
We are learning to recognize when our thoughts don’t agree with God’s Word and bring them back under His truth.
This Works Beyond Body Image
Maybe insecurity about your appearance isn’t what you’re battling today.
Maybe you’re overwhelmed.
Something happened that you didn’t expect. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, and your immediate thought is:
I have to fix this.
I need to control this.
What if everything goes wrong?
You can use the same three steps.
Acknowledge: I’m overwhelmed and afraid.
Name: I’m believing that everything depends on me and that I have to control the outcome.
Agree: What does God say?
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV
Susie explains that this practice can be used with any negative thought, including the need to control when we feel overwhelmed.
This is what it looks like to bring God into the real life you’re actually living.
God Can Meet You in the Routines You Already Have
One of Susie’s closing thoughts stayed with me:
God doesn’t always ask us to find more time. Sometimes He invites us to redeem the routines we already have.
I love that.
Because maybe you don’t need another thing to do.
Maybe tomorrow morning when you’re brushing your hair, applying your makeup, making your coffee, cooking breakfast, walking, or driving, you simply need to pay attention to what you’ve been rehearsing in your mind.
And when a thought comes up that doesn’t agree with God’s Word:
Acknowledge it.
Name the lie underneath it.
Agree with God’s truth.
That is something you can start doing today.
Get Susie’s Free Application & Truth Guide
Don’t just listen to this episode. Put it into practice.
Susie created her free Application & Truth guide so you can take this three-step method with you into your everyday life.
It will help you walk through your own Mirror Moment and begin practicing Acknowledge → Name → Agree when negative or insecure thoughts show up.
Download Susie’s free Application & Truth guide here
You can also connect with Susie on Instagram at @susiemendoza_. She shares Mirror Moments and more encouragement for applying God’s truth in everyday life.
Scriptures Mentioned in This Episode
Romans 12:2
2 Corinthians 10:5
Ephesians 1:6
Proverbs 3:5–6
Psalm 92:14
Isaiah 41:10
2 Timothy 1:7
Job 23:10
And friend, here’s what I want you to take with you: Tomorrow morning is going to come. You’re going to look in the mirror. You’re going to go about your day. And thoughts are going to show up.
Question them.
Is this true of who God says I am?
If it doesn’t agree with God’s Word, don’t automatically agree with it.
Acknowledge the thought.
Name the lie.
Choose God’s truth.
Because God doesn’t just want to give us more information. He wants His truth to transform the way we think and the way we live. That is what this conversation is really about.
Remember, whatever you’re facing, Go to God first.
With love in Christ,
