Taming Thoughts

Dear diary,

There are times in our lives where we face high stress situations. This can look like losing a loved one, moving, or starting over in life. But other times, these high-stress battles that we face are within our minds. As Christians, it’s important to make sure that we have strong mental fortitude so that we can live our best life in Christ. Let’s be honest here: sometimes the enemy doesn’t even have to do much work; your own thoughts are doing half of the work for him. 

The truth is, you’re either going to think good things or you’re going to think bad things. Whatever you want your reality to be is a result of your thoughts. You want to stay stuck? Keep telling yourself that. You want to be a woman of God who walks with purpose; it starts with your mind. Don’t believe me? Don’t take my word for it; take God's.

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee."

Proverbs 23:7

Fix Your Thoughts

We can sit here and talk about how our ever-changing thoughts have probably led us into rabbit holes that we didn’t want to be in or a situation that we couldn’t do anything about. It’s up to us to fix our thoughts. That’s right. You have to manually ‘fix’ your thoughts. This is similar to getting a car tuned up. It's necessary to get the best performance out of your car through its full operating life span. Life hits us with moments (similar to pot holes, loose bolts, and leaks you find out about during your car’s tune-up) that can dilute the way that God wants us to think, but we have to make sure that we are focusing our thoughts on the right things in order to fix them. For every negative thought you have, you’re going to fix your thoughts on something “true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable." These are all things that the apostle Paul tells us to think about instead. It feels even more peaceful to read those words. The idea here is to fine-tune or fix our human pattern of thinking to seek thoughts through a godly lens.

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

Philippians 4:8

Replace Your Thoughts

Ok cool. We’ve fixed our thoughts on all the pleasing words, but what do I do with all the old thoughts stored up like boxed items in an attic? Will they collect dust in my memory bank? No. They won’t collect dust, but what I would like you to do is replace them. I’ll even give you bonus points if you use the word of God, because the word of God is 100 percent factual. So instead of saying that you are not good enough, you begin to say, ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Instead of saying you’re not valued, you begin to say, “According to Matthew 10:31, I am more valuable than many sparrows." Both of these are great examples of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones! It's out with the old and in with the new. Bad thinking is so last season anyway.

"“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “"

Matthew 6:31–33

Remind Yourself

Now that you’ve gotten a new outlook on fixing your thoughts and replacing your old ones with eternal ones, let's add one more tip that will always keep you focused on how big God is. Tip number 3: Remind yourself of what God has done. Try to track the testimonies that you have experienced over the years. They are beautiful and help us overcome the enemy in battles. Sometimes, in the middle of mental storms, we may have difficulty remembering the truth, or you may be knee deep in deceptive thoughts.

The enemy is described as the father of lies. In the beginning of the Bible, we see him at play, distorting the truth of God and planting deception in the mist of God's truth. Don’t take the bait. You know what to do! Take that moment to pause and remind yourself of what God has done. Your thinking shifts from deception to truth! You will notice your mind slowly starting to regain faith and encourage yourself. You will remember how big God is and how untrue the lies are. Don’t ever let the lows of life lead you to forget the highs of God. He is a sovereign God. The same God that did your miracle then is the same God that is doing it now! Don’t ever forget that.

"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds"

Psalm 77:11-12

Empower yourself by taking control of your thoughts. Transform, renew, and align your thinking with the teachings of Christ. Liberate yourself and embrace a life filled with Christ-centered thoughts.

Lord, thank you for creating a blueprint for me to thrive in my thinking. I pray that my new thoughts give birth to a new and improved life in you. I also pray that my old thoughts lay down to your Word. I give you all the glory and honor. Amen.

- xoxo God's Girl