Changing Our Thinking

What do you do when your mind is going in a direction you don't want it to go?

What do you do when your caught up in patterns of anxiety in your mind and you're not sure how to stop them?

Is there any way we can change our thinking?

The answer is that, yes, we can change our thinking.

But, if we're looking for an easy fix, then we're going to have a problem. There's no promise of an easy fix.

Scripture does make it clear that our minds can be renewed - that we can change the way we think.

Romans 12:2 tells us that we can "be transformed by the renewing of our mind." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 talks about our ability to take thoughts captive to make them obedient to Christ. In Philippians 4:8, Paul tells us to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

These Scriptures would indicate that we do have the ability to change the way we think. We can choose to think on something different. We have that ability.

But, how do we do that? What does it look like?

What about when it seems like we can't change our thought patterns, not matter how hard we try?

I think the key to this is returning to Scripture. We need to take the time to find the truth of what Scripture says, and then we need to fill our minds with it.

This isn't an instant process. We may have to continually remind ourselves of the truth of Scripture. It's something we have to be intentional about, until it becomes our habit.

As I've learned this process in my own life, I've seen how it can and has changed my thinking over time. I've had to be intentional about it - especially in the moments when it's easiest for my thinking to go back to those old ways.

One of the things, I've learned is of the importance of having the truths from God's Word ready when I'm in the midst of a struggle. Those are the times when I need to be able to remind myself of God's truth clearly. Sometimes, this means going back to Scripture I've memorized.

Other times, it's actually having those Scriptures in a list that I can easily pull up an read - often out loud. This is especially true when it's a bigger challenge in my thinking. For me, one of those times is when my anxiety starts to take over my thinking. Then, the only way I might be able to stop it is to start declaring the truth of God's Word out loud and I need to have it where I can easily read it and access it. For me, that means it's actually in a note on my phone. Since my phone is pretty much always within reach of me, this is a helpful place for me to have this list of Scriptures.

Just because we find the Scripture and the truth doesn't mean it's going to instantly change. We have to commit to the process and be willing to dig in with it every time the issue arises again. Some days, it seems to have more impact on changing my thought life, than others. But, over time, it is slowly changing things.

The important thing is that we continue to go back to the truth of Scripture to change the way we think. No matter how many times we have to go back.

Allow God to Form Your Thoughts

"We demolish arguements and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5).

For most of my life I've thought that taking every thought captive was actually impossible. It just seemed like something I couldn't do.

I mean . . . who doesn't have thoughts that wander sometimes?

And how am I really supposed to think about God and His ways all the time?

How do I actually stop thinking about things I know I shouldn't? It seems like the harder I try to stop thinking about it, the more I end up thinking about it.

I've been challenged lately that maybe I've had it wrong when it comes to taking every thought captive. Not that doing so is wrong; Scripture is pretty clear that we should. But, what if I've been wrong in my understanding of what taking every thought captive means - what it looks like?

We all have things happen in life that stay with us. We think about them as drive, as we shop, as we work, as we watch TV, as we go to sleep. They can be good or bad. They don't have to consume all our thoughts, but they are things we give some time to.

When it comes to sinful thoughts, worry, anxiety, and so many things we know aren't from God, the most common advice I've heard is to just stop thinking about them - to work harder at not thinking about them. And then I would feel even worse because when I tried harder to not think about them, I ended up thinking about them more. This led me to conclude that what Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 10:5 is impossible.

But, in one of the Bible studies I've been working through recently, the author challenged me to see things differently. She was talking about Isaiah 26:3, which says:
          "You will keep in perfect peace
                    those whose minds are steadfast,
                    because they trust in You."
                                             (NIV, emphasis mine)

She started talking about what is meant by steadfast minds based on the original language. The picture of it made me think it might actually be possible to take our thoughts captive.

The idea in Isaiah 26:3 is one of leaning all of our thoughts onto God, so He can form them. It's not about what we do to change our thoughts, but about allowing God to form how we think about what we're thinking.

Taking my thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ is about allowing Him to form how I think about things. When I do that, my thoughts change. I being to see things God's way and to think about what is good and pleasing to Him. It becomes possible to take my thoughts captive because it's no longer about me. It's about allowing God to form how I think about what I think - whatever it is I'm thinking about.

Seeing Yourself as God Sees You

Since I wrote my last post on what we commonly know as the Greatest Commandment found in Matthew 22:27-29, I've been thinking about something that came up at the end of the post.

Jesus tells us to love our neighbours as ourselves. I finished that post with some thoughts on how if we are to love our neighbours well, we have to learn to love ourselves well too.

I've been thinking about that idea in the days since. It's an interesting concept to think about.

Some people may argue with me that we live in a world where we're told to place too much evidence on ourselves and loving ourselves. And others would argue that we live in a world where self-esteem is destroyed in many people and they don't know to love themselves at all.

I think part of the problem is the language being used. Loving yourself can seem to be a conceited  way of living. Maybe a better way of looking at it would be to see it as seeing yourself the way God sees you.

We need to learn to see ourselves as God sees us, because if we don't we'll have a hard time loving others well. There's nothing conceited about learning to see ourselves the way God sees us. That is the way God wants us to live. And out of that flows love for our neighbour, like Jesus talked about in Matthew 22:27-29.

The problem is that we often have a difficult time believing what God says about us, so we don't see ourselves as God sees us. We've allowed other people's opinions of us and our own thoughts about ourselves, to get in the way of us seeing ourselves as God sees us.

Scripture is full of references to how God sees us. Full of references that tell us what God sees when He looks at us.

• You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• You are not condemned (Romans 8:1)
• You are God's workmanship - His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)
• You are chosen (1 Peter 2:9)
• You are a child of God (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1)
• You are an overcomer (1 John 4:4)
• You are a friend of God (John 15:15)
• You are forgiven (1 John 1:9)

Those are just a few of the many verses in Scripture that tell us how God sees us.

How are you doing at seeing yourself as God sees you?

What are You Allowing In?

The last post in the series on Philippians 4:4-8. You can read the other parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4


"Finally, bothers 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)

Paul is emphasizing the importance of what we fill our minds with. We need to pay attention to what we're thinking about because it is a reflection of what we're filling our minds with.

The standards Paul gives for what we fill our minds with our high. And they are high for a reason.

We don't want to allow anything in that opens a door for Satan to get a foothold in our minds and hearts.

These standards that Paul gives for what we think about are the things that are the guard God's peace put around our minds and hearts.

It is important to evaluate things before we allow them in.

• Is this the truth that I'm allowing in?
• Is this something with quality that I'm allowing in?
• Is this pure according to God's standards?
• Is this lovely according to God's standards?
• Is this something admirable according to God's standards?
• Is this in line with God's standards for excellence?
• Is this praiseworthy according to God's standards?

If the answer to any of these questions is "no" then maybe we need to re-evaluate why we're allowing it into our minds and hearts.

Are You Filled With God's Peace?

Part 4 in a series on Philippians 4:4-8. You can read the remaining parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.


"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7)

This verse is also one I'll look at in a couple of sections.

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding . . ."

God's peace is given to us. It replaces the anxious thoughts we give over to God in prayer (see last post in the series). God offers His peace to us.

We may not always understand God's peace. If fact, we often don't. We can have God's peace in the midst of circumstances that should cause us anything but peace. But that is what God offers when we take our anxious thoughts to Him in prayer.

". . . will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

God's peace guards our hearts and minds. It protects us from the anxious thoughts coming back. When we are filled with God's peace, it forms a guard around our heart and our mind to keep things that would steal that peace.

All of this happens as we are in Christ Jesus. If we're not in Christ, we won't receive God's peace.

 

 

Have you accepted the peace God offers to you?

 

Are you remaining in Christ?

Being a Writer

This post is a bit of a change from what I usually post here. For almost a year I've been a part of an online writing community that encourages and challenges one another in our writing. One of the other member of that community is hosting a writing contest on his blog and I've decided to join in. With that said, I'm participating in "Writing Contest: You Are a Writer" over at Positive Writer.



I've been writing a blog for almost 5 years now. And I was writing without sharing it with anyone for a number of years that.

But, I never would have called myself a writer.

I work in accounting. I'm a numbers person. I never liked anything to do with writing in school. I took math classes for fun instead.

I thought there was no way a person like that could be a writer.

So, when people told me I should write, I shrugged it off. I never gave it much thought.

At least, outwardly I did. But the thought didn't really leave my mind. I kept thinking about it. And dreaming about it. I never told anyone. I just kept thinking about it and I kept posting things here.

I always thought it would happen one day. One day I would be a writer. One day I would write something that was worthy of being published.

In the fall, I came across an opportunity to get involved with this writing community. I learned a lot. And I'm still learning lots.

I was challenged to begin to call myself a writer. I was told that the difference between being a writer and not being a writer was whether you wrote or just thought about writing things. I had never looked at it that way before.

I always thought you had to have a book published to be a writer. But, I've come to see how you don't have to have a book to be a writer. You have to write something and share it with other people. It's not a book, but I publish something every time I post something on my blog. Having a book published is a goal of many writers, but you can be a writer before that happens.

Shortly after that, I wrote a post I had been thinking about writing for a while. I wrote about something near to my heart and I wrote boldly about it. I knew not everyone would agree with what I wrote. But for the first time I stepped out and wrote about something that was dangerous for my to write about.

I hit publish on that post.

And shared it with the world.

That was when I started to see myself as a writer.

I haven't completely arrived as a writer. I still have a long way to go to fall into the category of a good writer. But I'm a writer nonetheless. And I will become a better writer the more I write.

What Do You Believe About Yourself?

For about 9 months, I've been writing more consistently on this blog.

Sometimes I've felt like I have lots to say. Other times I've found it more difficult to write.

I've written some of my favourite posts in this time. And some that I look back on and wonder why I wrote them.

But there is one thing I've learned in doing this.

It makes a huge difference in how I approach what I put up here to call myself a writer.

That might seem like a strange concept to some. In the traditional sense of having a published book, I'm not a writer. At least some people would say I'm not.

But I read a quote a while ago that challenged me. I can't find the quote now, but it said that we become writers when we call ourselves one. Not when the world around us says we are.

It's about a change in thinking.

And like in so many other things, the way you think matters when it comes to writing.

It doesn't matter if I'm a good writer as much as if I believe I'm a writer. Obviously, I want to be a good writer, but that can come with practice.

It starts with believing I'm a writer because the way I think influences what I do.

This is a concept that applies in our spiritual lives as well.

The way we think about ourselves and our relationship with God affects the things we do in our walk with God.

If we believe and constantly tell ourselves we'll never be able to live in victory in an area of our lives, we won't find victory in that area. We'll find ourselves stuck in the pattern we want to break.

But if we fill our minds with God' truth - that with His help we can live in victory over whatever it is, we will find that it becomes possible to do that.

It all starts with what we're telling ourselves. Because what we tell ourselves and believe about ourselves is how and what we live.

How do you think about yourself? What do you believe about yourself?

Is it in line with the truth about you and the life you can live? Or does it need to change?