Choosing What to Think About

As he thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 What do you spend most of your time thinking about? Many of us never step back and analyze what’s running through our minds; we just go with the flow. But when we stop to take notice, we may find that our thoughts are dominated by daydreams of success and worries of failure. A snapshot of our thoughts gives us a picture of the content of our hearts. And what we hold in our hearts serves as the ground, seed, and fertilizer for what grows into our attitudes and actions. A good analysis of our thoughts includes looking at both what we think about and how we think. We may be preoccupied with concerns about our children, conflict with our spouses, the expectations of a boss, or a hundred other worries. Or, we may daydream about escaping our problems by taking a cruise, playing the perfect game of golf, or finding a thrill in a secret affair. All our thoughts, including our worries and desires to escape, can be fulfilled through faith, hope, and love. When we’re worried, we can refocus our thoughts on the goodness and greatness of God so that we find faith to trust Him for wisdom. When we’re bored and want to escape, we can choose to rivet our minds on the hope of God’s purpose for us. And when we are thankful, we can let our thoughts roll on in gratitude and love for our Lord. Martin Luther once said, “We can’t keep a bird from flying over our heads, but we can keep it from building a nest in our hair!” Analyze your thoughts for the past 24 hours and put them into categories of worry, escape, determination to succeed, faith, hope, and love. What can you do today to make better choices about what you think and how you think? I’d love to talk to you personally. For more on help I can provide and how you can reach me, check out… http://truthatlife.com/ or email me directly at curtis.songer@gmail.com