What’s Happening in Your Head?
What were you thinking? This is a question we often ask folks, and sometimes ourselves, particularly when something silly or foolish has been said or done. It points to the fact that our words and actions flow from our thinking, or in many cases, from our failure to do so!
What goes on in our heads has a huge impact on the way we live our lives. Bad thinking breeds bad behavior, and good thoughts are great assets. Minding our mind is one of the best disciplines we can develop.
The Bible reminds us of the difference our thoughts make:
Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. –– Proverbs 4:23 (NCV)
God gives us some strong advice –– advice in the form of a warning. He charges us with a duty, and calls us to perform it diligently. He says, in more common vernacular, “Pay attention to what goes on between your ears. It determines what happens with your life.”
How many times have your thoughts gotten you into trouble? How many times have you made a bad decision, responded to someone the wrong way, said or did something you later regretted, all because your thinking about a person or situation was messed up. The mess in your mind made a mess in your life!
The devil is very much aware of the power of our thoughts. This is why he targets our heads. He loves to plant ugly, destructive, angry, judgmental, polluted thoughts in our mind, and then let them run their course. He knows that, if left unchecked and un-arrested, these thoughts will do his work for him. They’ll bring us down and take us out.
The Apostle Paul gave us some instructions about monitoring our mind so this doesn’t happen. He gave us some mental guidelines — a way to know whether our thinking is good and healthy or sinful and diseased. Take a look at God’s guidance for good mental hygiene:
… Friends, I’d say you’ll do your best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious –– the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. –– Philippians 4:8 (Msg)
What’s happening in your head? Are you monitoring your mind carefully? Thinking about your thinking is one of the keys to a pure, peaceful and productive life!
Dale O'Shields
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