What
was I watching the other day that triggered this thought in me? Oh, I remember!
We were at Castles and Coasters playing miniature golf. I saw someone, whose
appearance triggered a negative response in my brain, and I promptly turned
away. But at the same time that I was no longer looking, I judged, I pitied, I shook
my head in disgust and disappointment. I even imagined how I might try to break
the cycle and make a change if I were them. Then I thought to myself, “What if
people could hear our thoughts?” Talk
about a rude awakening!
What
if they could? Imagine not only being judged by what you say and do, but by how
you think! Imagine how hurt people would be! I guess depending on your thoughts,
and their reactions, it could foster all kinds of different results. But let us
not stop there. Imagine how our fleshly thoughts, such as these and worse,
could open up a door we may not want to open. We could leave ourselves open for
more temptation and sin just by allowing our minds to go there. We may clean
out our house, or think we have, but if we do not fill it with good things, it
sits empty and exposed.
Matthew 12:43-45: “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it
passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I
came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then
it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they
enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the
first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
And
let me tell you something, we don’t always realize how poisonous and habitual
our thinking is. Outwardly we say and do all the right things, especially when
we are in church. J Come on, you know you do too. But inwardly
we got some cleanin’ AND fillin’ to do!
Make
a mental note of all the thoughts you partake in on a regular basis. It might
even help to write them down. Then one by one, replace it with a positive snippet
of scripture. Each time you catch yourself, do this. What you will be doing is
reforming some very bad patterns of thought with some very good and grace
filled thoughts. It helps too if you actually read the bible every day to keep
your ‘house full.’
Do
you think that your thoughts become your words, then actions, then character?
Yes they do. Don’t even think that it does not affect who you really are. Do you think judgment day
will be all about what we do and say but also about how we think and feel?
Exactly right!
Mark 7:20-22 And he said,
“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the
heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
It
is clear, when things like this occur, that I have so much work yet to do. We
will never be perfect but we can always do our best to be the example
that Christ set for us. Christ is the ultimate example of God’s love for us.
Love is the most important commandment. What does that look like? Well it doesn’t
look like the thoughts in my head at negative times like that, does it?!
1 Corinthians
13:4-8 Love is patient
and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not
insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at
wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for
prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for
knowledge, it will pass away.
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