Life Can Be Wonderful? 6 – Even When My Thinking Goes Haywire
Our minds are incredible things. They can dream and imagine new inventions, medications and research that can changes our world almost daily. It is an amazing part of our world and lives. People often talk about not being able to shut their mind off and yet we depend on it every moment of our lives. We need to realize that our brains make decisions like crazy for us every moment. The thing is though, that if we can keep our thinking straight our lives can be an orderly and good thing.
The real problem with life at times is that the way our brain leads is how our lives go. That is why it is so important watch what we are thinking about and how it influences our lives. In Proverbs 4:23 in the New Century Version it reads like this: “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” When you think that your thoughts can run your life and that your life is determined mostly by your thoughts; you better stop and begin to ask ourselves how to keep our thoughts from going haywire.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:8, “Those who are pure in their thinking are happy, because they will be with God.” That word pure is a strange word. It means so many things. When I was a kid growing up we were taught that this verse was about not thinking about sex or looking at the wrong kinds of magazines. As I’ve grown up I realize that this is a part of it, but I think we need to realize that there is so much more to the thought than just not lusting after someone.
Why and how do we think pure thoughts?
Be an aggressive and active thinker
The apostle Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians to “capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” Our minds tend to wander. As I’m writing this today my mind has already thought of about ten different things. I have to sort of capture my thoughts and remind my brain to keep writing and working on this blog post. It is funny how the mind works and then can think about something else when we are trying to concentrate? We need to be aggressive and capture those thoughts that will lead us somewhere we do not want or need to go. It is about disciplining our mind to stay focused on what is right and needed at the time.
Our thoughts will definitely lead us somewhere
A long time ago I read that our thoughts lead us somewhere. If I remember right it flows this way:
My thoughts become my choices
My choices become my actions.
My actions become my habits.
My habits become my life.
Our thoughts will eventually become what our life is made of. We cannot think one way and act another for very long. The old “fake ‘til you make it” way of life will only work for a minute. Eventually your thoughts will lead you on a good path or to some trouble. Our thoughts put us on a track in our lives that can lead us to peace or pacing at night. So if a small thought enters and we kick it out the door of our mind we will protect our lives from the beginning.
A strategy will help us control our thoughts
A strategy for our thoughts may seem extreme but if we are going to win this battle against our thoughts we need a plan. So maybe just these random thoughts about our thoughts will help us.
Make your thoughts positive
Keep good thought provokers in front of you
Don’t let negative thoughts take root in your mind or heart
Work every day to have a positive thought about yourself
Listen to the positive thoughts of others
Make decisions when your thoughts are positive not negative
When it comes to keeping our thoughts pure is sometimes as simple as the decision you need to make. Thoughts make our decisions, but sometimes our decision to change our thoughts can change our lives for the good. So make sure you keep your thoughts in line. If you go haywire it is so tough to get back in line with a path that can make your life great.