One of my favourite passages in the bible is Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things”. I’ve chosen to forgo a lot of movie outings, conversations, t.v shows and even reading the latest disaster in the news or on Facebook, because I want to be mindful of what I am thinking about.
Our life today is a result of our thinking yesterday, and our life tomorrow is a result of our thinking today. Just as importantly, what enters our mind and occupies our thought processes will somewhere, somehow come out of our mouth.
If you don’t like where you are today, you struggle in your thought life, and the words that come out of your mouth, here are some tips to help make some changes in your life:
Walk in Forgiveness – forgiveness of sin and forgiveness of others removes heartache and guilt from the past. Unforgiveness and holding grudges hurts others, but mostly it hurts us and steals our joy and peace.
Do a mental spring clean of your thought life. Keep an inventory of what you are thinking about. It may shock you when you think about what you spend your day thinking about. We literally can change our lives by beginning to think different thoughts. I recommend thinking on God’s word and His thoughts.
Check the environment in which you live and surround yourself. We are each a product of the environment that surrounds our lives. Our environment affects our values, priorities and lifestyles. What are you allowing in your home life?
Ask yourself, “what am I doing with my spare time”? How we spend our time will greatly determine what we are thinking about. The devil brings his greatest temptation to people when they have time on their hands. King David is a good example. He made one of the greatest errors of judgement of his life when he was meant to be fulfilling his role as King and leading His army. Instead he stayed at home. His spare time was eventually spent with another man’s wife, whom he got pregnant and led to the death of an innocent man. (2 Samuel 11). It takes discipline of character, focus and goals in life to correctly handle extra hours given in our day. One of the best things we can do for ourselves is to learn to have a healthy productive thought life, and to understand the importance of filling our free time with tools that will help us think right and encourages us to grow and achieve our goals.
Who are your closest friends? The people we associate with will greatly determine how we think. Often possible to know the character and values of a person by knowing his or her friends. Peer pressure and the desire to belong is often the greatest influence upon our lives. Choose your friends well!
The simple exhortation from God’s word to only think on those things that are pure and noble and praise worthy can be used as a guideline to be applied in our thought life. They can be a standard we use for guiding us in who we associate closely with, how we fill our free time, and any changes we may need to make in our surroundings.
As we think we change. What are you thinking about?
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”. (Romans 12:2)
Prayer: Lord help me to examine my thought life. Give me wisdom to see where I need to make changes, and the strength to be a person who chooses well. Please surround me with people who help me to be the best I can be. In Jesus Name Amen.
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