“A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.”
Proverbs 15:14 (NLT) Our minds control everything else about us. Our thoughts influence our feelings. And our feelings impact our actions. What you think matters, because everything starts in the mind. To be a responsible person, you have to control your thoughts. But let me relieve you of some false guilt: You’re not responsible for every stray thought that passes through your mind. Stray thoughts enter our minds for a variety of reasons, like conversations you hear by accident, things you see, or stuff the Devil puts in your mind. You’re responsible for how you deal with those stray thoughts. Martin Luther said it like this: “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” God will hold you accountable for what you allow to enter your mind. It's amazing what some people watch—not to mention what they let their children watch. Many followers of Jesus spend their time watching TV shows and listening to podcasts that have absolutely no moral, emotional, or educational value. They pay good money to see deviant behavior as entertainment. People watching such shows have told me, “When I go see those kinds of things, it just doesn’t phase me. It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t affect me.” But that’s just not true! Scientists have done study after study that says you never really forget any scene you see. Even if you don’t consciously recall the scene, that idea will come right back to your mind—in living color—when something else stimulates the thought. In other words, “Garbage in, garbage out.” What you put into your mind will inevitably bear fruit in your behavior and beliefs. In fact, when cheap entertainment doesn’t bother you anymore, it’s a warning light that you’ve already passed the threshold. One of Satan’s greatest tricks for attracting you to sinful lifestyles is comedy. That’s why on TV or in movies, deviant behavior often starts in a comedic situation. If Satan can get you laughing at something that is sinful, then you’ve already lost the battle. Sin isn’t funny. Sin put Jesus on the cross. Proverbs 15:14 says, “A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash” (NLT). Are you hungry for more knowledge of God, or are you content to keep a steady diet of entertainment that breaks his heart? You have the power to decide what you feed your mind.
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“Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory. I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.”
Romans 8:17-18 (GNT) A famous Harvard study once showed a direct connection between long-term thinking and success. It revealed that the more people focus on short-term gain, the more likely they are to fail. Those who focus on what “feels good” right now are doomed to be unsuccessful. For Christians, this should be obvious. When we talk of long-term thinking, we call it eternity. We’re not thinking 40 or 50 years into the future. We’re thinking trillions and trillions of years into the future. Living with eternity in mind will make you the most successful person possible. When you think long-term—when you consider what God has in store for you in eternity—you can handle the momentary problems that come your way. Romans 8:17-18 says, “Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory. I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us” (GNT). If you’re a follower of Christ, one day you’ll be rewarded for what you’ve done with what you’ve been given. Use your talents, time, treasure, and influence for God’s purposes, and you’ll be rewarded for those choices. The verses above also say we’ll be rewarded in heaven for what Jesus did: “We will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him.” You’ve got a lot to look forward to in heaven. Your current pain and problems may hurt for a while—but it’s just a little while compared to eternity. It’s not easy to be a believer. It’s not easy to do what’s right. Sometimes it’s not easy to tell others about Jesus. It’s not easy to tithe. But the benefits of following Jesus and obeying what he teaches will far outlast the pain and discomfort. Don’t focus only on instant results and your present troubles. You’ve got too much to look forward to in eternity to settle for short-term thinking. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
1 John 1:8 (NIV) We lie to ourselves all the time: “I haven’t gained any weight.” “I’m not hurting anyone.” “No one even noticed.” But one lie is more dangerous than most: “It’s not really a problem.” We tell ourselves that our finances aren’t a problem, our marriage isn’t in trouble, and our temper isn’t out of control. Lying to ourselves is the number one way we mess up our lives. The Bible says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8 NIV). Sin causes us to deceive ourselves, and deception causes us to sin. Behind every self-defeating act in our lives is a lie we’ve believed. Either we’ve lied to ourselves or we’ve believed one of Satan’s lies. The Bible says our heart is “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9 NIV). You and I have an amazing ability to lie to ourselves. It’s time to stop. Stop rationalizing. Stop minimizing your behavior. Stop excusing. Stop tolerating. To stop defeating yourself—doing all of those self-defeating behaviors that cripple your ability to follow Jesus faithfully—you have to stop deceiving yourself. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 NIV). But first, the truth will make you miserable! You can’t break free from these self-defeating behaviors if you won’t admit they exist. You can’t beat the problem if you’re lying to yourself about it. Victory starts with telling the truth about yourself and being willing to do something about it. “Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest.”
Galatians 6:7 (GW) You don’t plant apple seeds and get tomatoes. In the same way, you don’t plant bitterness and get love. You don’t plant criticism and then get encouragement from other people. Galatians 6:7 says, “Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest” (GW). Read that again: “Whatever you plant is what you’ll harvest.” If you plant in the soil of your sinful nature, you’ll harvest destruction. But if you plant in the soil of your spiritual nature, you’ll harvest everlasting life. God has said for thousands of years that our sins can affect future generations. For instance, when you’re angry and you lose your temper with your kids, you’re setting them up to lose their temper with their kids. Sins get perpetuated in families, possibly for multiple generations. Not only does it work relationally and environmentally, but it also works physically. We now know your brain can actually be changed by repetitive behavior, for good or for bad. Everyone used to think the brain was pretty much set in stone by the time you were an adolescent. Now we know about brain plasticity and how your brain can continue to be molded for the rest of your life. That’s good to know! It means if your brain has been naturally molded toward depression or a quick temper or anxiety, it can change. But you’ve got to change the way you think. The Bible refers to this as repentance or changing your mind. You can change your mind, and when you do, it changes the way you feel. And when you change the way you feel, it changes the way you act. Then, you plant in your spiritual nature and watch what amazing fruit God will reap in your life. “The world’s sin is unbelief in me.”
John 16:9 (TLB) At the root of every sin rests at least a momentary doubt about God. In John 16:9 Jesus says, “The world’s sin is unbelief in me” (TLB). When you don’t believe Jesus is who he says he is or he’ll do what he says he’ll do, that’s the root of all sin. Here are some emotions you can look for that can help you know when you’re doubting God. When you become fearful or anxious, it often reveals your unbelief in God’s promises. The Bible offers more than 7,000 promises. If you claim them, you’ll see your fear and anxiety levels go down. It’s the world’s greatest insurance policy. When you become impatient, it reveals your doubt in God’s perfect timing. God has a plan for your life, but he’s never going to be in a hurry. That’s easy to forget when you want things to happen on your own timetable—so you take matters into your own hands instead of waiting on God. When you become resentful or bitter, it reveals your doubt in God’s wisdom. God is wise and good and loving. But when things don’t turn out like you plan or want, you think he messed up somehow. And you don’t believe he can bring good out of bad. When you dwell in guilty feelings, it reveals your unbelief in God’s forgiveness. How long should a follower of Jesus feel guilty? About one second. That’s how long it takes to confess a sin. If you’re carrying around guilt, it means you can’t forgive yourself because you don’t believe God has forgiven you. When you feel inadequate, it reveals your doubt in God’s power. God has said his power shows up best in your weakness. But when you don’t believe that, it shows you think power should come only from yourself. If you think that, you’re always going to be disappointed. Do you want to turn around those feelings of fear, impatience, resentment, guilt, and inadequacy? Then you need to start doubting your doubts. If you believe in God’s Word, you can trust what it says about God and the way he feels about you and takes care of you. You can trust that God keeps his promises, has perfect timing, is wise, forgives you, and works powerfully through you. “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.”
Romans 8:5 (NLT) Have you ever felt like you are a hostage to your thoughts? Maybe you just can’t get a thought out of your mind. Or you often find yourself doing things you don’t want to do. You knowingly engage in self-defeating behavior. You know something is not good for you, but you do it anyway. Romans 7:23 says, “I see a different law at work in my body—a law that fights against the law which my mind approves of. It makes me a prisoner to the law of sin which is at work in my body” (GNT). Because of your sinful nature, you think of yourself and your wants more than what God wants. It’s a battle in your mind, and you’re losing it. Your old nature—who you were before Jesus changed your life—is not your friend. It is the source of all your self-defeating habits that tend to take you down. Do you want to break those habits and have more control over the way you think? Then you need to hear and understand this truth: You don’t have to believe everything you think. Your mind lies to you all the time. Just because you think something is true doesn’t make it true. Just because you feel something is true doesn’t make it true. Your mind and your emotions often lie to you. Part of spiritual growth—becoming more like Jesus—is learning to know the difference between thoughts that are true and those that are not. One of the most important disciplines you can build in life is to challenge your own thoughts. Say to yourself, “I know what I’m thinking, but is that really true?” No matter how far you go in your spiritual walk, your old, sinful nature will keep trying to take control of your thoughts. You have to learn to question your thoughts, not just one time but throughout your day and throughout your life! When you start to think nobody likes you, ask yourself if that’s really true. If you think it’s never going to get better, ask yourself if it’s true. When you think your life is worthless, question what Satan is trying convince you of. Then, remember what you know from God’s Word to be true. The Bible teaches, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit” (Romans 8:5 NLT). “I am not really alone, because the Father is with me.”
John 16:32 (GNT) Having the mind of Christ means always being aware that God is with you. We see this in the life of Jesus. Jesus lived in the presence of God and stayed connected to the favor of God. No matter how busy he was, he stayed in tune with the Father. Jesus said, “I am not really alone, because the Father is with me” (John 16:32 GNT). This is why the greatest antidote to loneliness is thinking like Jesus. When you have the mind of Christ, you’ll be able, like him, to say, “I’m not alone because I know the Father is always with me.” When we feel alone, it’s often the result of not living with the mind of Christ—we’re not aware of God’s constant care. How can you always stay aware of God’s constant care? One way is through prayer. Jesus made prayer a daily habit: “Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray” (Luke 5:16 CEV). Notice this verse says that Jesus often slipped away so he could pray. You can’t just do that every now and then if you want to have the mind of Christ. Jesus’ prayer life was continual. He made it the priority of his life to be with his Father. It was a habit. Do you stop and pray throughout the day? Do you think your day would go better if you developed this habit? If Jesus felt the need to slip away and pray throughout his day, then think about how much more we need it! When you don’t take the time to talk with God, you miss the gifts of God. It’s not God’s will for you to be too busy for him. In fact, you’ll get more done in every area of your life if you take the time to stop and pray. That doesn’t seem like it should work. If you’re always stopping to pray, how are you going to get more done? When you pray, you’re taking time to let God’s Spirit remind you what your purpose is. Then you’re able to focus your mind and heart on what matters most. Jesus Christ knew who he was and what his purpose was. He was always aware of God’s presence. When you get the mind of Christ, you’ll have those things, too, and you’ll always be aware that God is with you. “Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
Romans 8:6 (NLT) Have you noticed your mind doesn’t always do what you tell it to do? Sometimes your mind has a mind of its own. Sometimes your thoughts go off in directions that you don’t intend. When you need to pray, your thoughts stray. When you want to ponder God’s Word, your thoughts want to wander. The Bible says, when this happens, you need to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). What does that mean? The Greek word used in that verse literally means you take thoughts prisoner. You conquer them. You bring them under control. That’s only possible when you use the two weapons every believer has available to them: the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. First, you need to recognize the power of God’s Spirit inside you. Without him, you are defenseless. Romans 8:6 says, “Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (NLT). You need Jesus in your life because, without the Holy Spirit, your sinful nature controls your mind and will always lead you in the wrong direction. But when the Spirit controls you, you have the power you need to take every thought captive. Second, you need the Word of God. Jesus says, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32 GNT). People like to quote the second part of that passage. In fact, it’s posted on university buildings all over the world. But very few people quote the first part, where it says you have to learn and obey God’s Word. People want the freedom without God’s truth. In reality, there is no freedom without truth. And there is no truth without God’s Word. God has given you the direction you need for life, and you can trust every word the Bible says. The more you get to know God’s Word and fill your mind with his truth, the easier it will be to direct your thoughts where you want them to go. “Fools will believe anything, but the wise think about what they do.”
Proverbs 14:15 (NCV) Every behavior is based on a belief. If you act scared, it’s because you believe scary thoughts at that moment. If you act resentful, it’s because you believe you’ve been devalued, and so you’re going to defend yourself. If you’re acting prideful, it may be because you believe you’re not good enough, so you’re trying to compensate by being boastful. If there is a behavior in your life you don’t like, go to the source and change the thought behind it. God says in Haggai 1:5, “Carefully consider your ways!” (GW). Ask yourself: Why do I act that way with this person? Why do I act this way at work or school? Why do I act this way with certain neighbors? What thought triggered that response? What assumption is behind that action? What belief is beneath that behavior? Have you ever been in this kind of conflict with your spouse or significant other: It starts off simple enough—but before you know it, something in the argument triggers your emotions, and you go from zero to 100 in emotional intensity in two seconds? Then you’re out of control, upset, nervous, or fearful. You may start sweating, or your voice may rise. Maybe tears start coming down your cheeks. Something in that moment tapped into an unspoken belief. You may believe the other person is going to leave you. You may believe you haven’t been heard. You may believe your idea isn’t being given validation and you’re not being treated with respect. You believe something that suddenly triggered an emotional response. If you’re ever in a situation like that, you need to ask this question: What am I believing right now? You need to examine the beliefs beneath your behavior. The Bible says in Proverbs 14:15, “Fools will believe anything, but the wise think about what they do” (NCV). To grow in any area of life, examine what’s going on in your mind. Start thinking about what you’re thinking about so your thoughts can lead to healthy, purposeful action. “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.”
Philippians 4:8 (NIV) You can learn a lot about a person’s physical health by simply looking at their physical diet. Are they eating a variety of whole foods? Are they eating a lot of fast food? Is their diet full of foods that help them grow strong and have energy, or is the food they consume wearing them down? The same is true spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. You can know a lot about your spiritual, mental, and emotional health by looking at your mental diet. Hours of talk radio, cable news, soap operas, social media, and binge watching is the equivalent of mental junk food. It’s not healthy for you. In fact, it’s poison. It is wearing down your ability to live a life of purpose. Proverbs 15:14 says, “A wise man is hungry for truth, while the mocker feeds on trash” (TLB). You have a choice—and every day, you must choose to feed your mind with the best thoughts. Philippians 4:8 gets specific about the kinds of thoughts that are best for your mental, emotional, and spiritual health: “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” (NIV). Does that list of things describe what you think about most of the time? If you’re honest, the answer is “no.” We would all answer “no.” Our minds don’t naturally go to these things because we are human and sinful. So you have to train your mind to think thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. How do you do that? By doing it! You have to practice filling your mind with these things by reading the Bible, meditating on it, and memorizing it. You have to hunger for it. How you think determines how you live. What you put in your mind is going to affect every area of your life—so you need a steady diet of truth from God’s Word. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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