Saturday night I had the distinct privilege of speaking at the Gold Medal Award Ceremony for Rebecca Torsky and Theresa Kaehler – two of our teenagers. To get this award they had to graduate with honors from the five Missionette clubs of the Assemblies of God. They are two of twenty-two in the nation who have achieved this goal and we are very proud of them. I challenged them to live the Missionette Code; "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, (honest)whatever is right, (just) whatever is pure,whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, (good report)if anything is excellent (virtue)or praiseworthy, think about such things."
I probably use that verse more than any other while coaching, counseling, or just plain encouraging. Right thinking produces right feelings and right living. If our thinking is stinking then so will our feelings and actions follow, I’m always asking myself, “what am I telling myself.” “Is it true, or am I making an assumption?”
We tend to allow our thinking to wander pretty much where ever it happens to fall. In a negative, depraved culture it can wander down some pretty dark paths assuming the very worst of ourselves or others and our situations. But I discovered that I can be intentional in my thinking – I can choose my thoughts. I can pay attention to what I’m saying in my head and choose not to think negative, dark, critical, improper, polluted, unwholesome, undignified, dishonorable, unethical, insane, ugly substandard, unacceptable thoughts.
We have a choice, ladies. Praise God! The Word tells us that we “have the mind of Christ.” We can choose to think out of His true, pure,right, lovely, noble, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy thoughts. Read Romans 12:1-2. Paul reminds us to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” God does the transforming as we do what only we can do – renew our minds with the Word of God. Read it, memorize it; think, speak and act on the Word of God and your thoughts will change. Don’t’ just let the enemy have a heyday with your mind. Take charge. Be intentional in your thinking. Mind your mind.
4 comments:
Angela,
This is an area that I have had great struggle in. As we all eventually learn, the only thing we can control is our own action/reaction to the people and events in our life.
And this all begins in our mind, and mindsets. We have to will ourselves to mind our mind!
Thank you,
Lisa
Lisa,
I think we all struggle in this area especially when we don't realize we have a choice. We not only have a choice; but we have all the power we need to make the better choice. We too often allow ourselves to be victims of careless thinking. I've been there, done that and have the T- Shirt, matching purse, hat and shoes to match. But, I learned that IN CHRIST I am at liberty to choose my thoughts. I can look at things through the lens of my past, negative perceptions or through the lens of God. Just as it isn't' a sin to be tempted to sin; it isn't' a sin for a bad thought to enter our minds. We give the devil a foothold when we entertain the thought. We have to take the thought captive to the Word of God. If it doesn't' line up; throw it out and quote or read scripture to refute the thought. Or the devil will have a party and leave the mess for us to clean up. I don't' know about you but I'm sick and tired of having to clean up after him. Let's be proactive!
When I became a christian I put of the old man,after 8 yrs being a christian the one thing I deal with every day is my stinking thinking. It encourages me to know that I am not failing as a christian because I struggle with my thinking.
Yes, When we received Christ as our Savior the Old Man or Old Nature was crucified with Christ and is dead. Unfortunately, the soul and flesh need to be retrained or sanctified and that is a process of us knowing what God has done and our new identity, recognizing it at any given moment, and then choosing to operate out of our new nature through the power of the Holy Spirit instead of the flesh. This is a process of learning, failing, learning from our failures, progressing and repeating the process until we learn in that area. Then there will another area to work on. No, your're not a failure -- just in the process!!
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