My son has always struggled with negative self talk, but I feel like he hit a real low during last year's baseball season. It was not only heartbreaking, but also an exhausting year watching your kid absolutely tank it mentally….
Every night after his games it was straight negativity, "I suck, I'm absolutely horrible, I'll always be the last batter, I'm never going to be good at baseball, all I ever do is strike out, I wanna quit.…."
The hubby and I constantly felt like we were talking to a wall, but we kept warning him that his negative mindset was what would always hold him back from his greatest potential. That what he believed about himself would ultimately become his reality. If he believed he sucked, he would. We tried to teach him that how he was speaking to himself mattered, but it seemed that our advice often went in one ear and out the other ….
No matter how much we lectured, he just kept falling back into the negativity.
Even our prayers seemed to go unanswered….
We would pray for the Lord's strength, for mental toughness, and that Jett would start believing and grabbing hold of the truth about himself, instead of entertaining the lies… I'd pray out loud reminding him....
You are not worthless, you are a son of the One True King!
You are not a waste of space nor do you suck, you were made for a purpose!
You are not weak my boy, with the Lord you are strong!
You are never alone because the Lord always goes with you.
It doesn't matter what others say about you…. or to you, it's the Lord who defines you!
No matter what we said or what we prayed.. Our son continued to drown in his own negativity
Last year was full of so many tears, but also lots of prayers…. And lots of extra time spent at the baseball field straight grinding...
It's been a long road, but as my son has been learning the truth in scripture and has been letting it permeate his mind, he has truly developed strength he never thought possible! That mental toughness and strength is not his own. As my son learns how to fight the lies with the truth, he is slowly finding freedom from the negativity.
Jesus says in John 8:32 that the "truth will set you free.”..... And I have never experienced anything more true in my life. 
The same kid who cried after every game last year, the one that insisted that he sucked, that he wanted to quit, who always batted last, the same kid who said he'd never be a good baseball player, hit his first home run over the fence last night….
The home run was cool, yes, but what I was more overjoyed about was his growth, seeing his hard work paying off and watching him overcome!! As he clings to the Truth, he is no longer merely surviving, but thriving.... 
The way you speak to yourself matters!
Don't let those lies define you….
Grab hold of the Truth... because the Truth will set you free
"But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12:9
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