Posted by Philippians 4:8-9
“Finally, brothers 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Take control of your thoughts and you will be in control of your life. God has designed you to think and to work together with Him as a partner in His Kingdom business of redeeming planet earth. Having a calm peaceful mind will help you become a well-balanced more productive person in this partnership.
The condition of your thought life determines the condition of your life in general. Your life is actually the sum total of the decisions you have made in the past. You and I are not always in complete control of outcomes, nor of the consequences that other people’s decisions may have on us, but we are in complete control of how we think and process these.
Paul is saying that you can have the peace of God in all situations, if you choose to control how you think. You can have God’s peace in every challenge you face by maintaining a healthy thought life. Taking control of your life begins when you take control of your thoughts.
How you think will influence how you feel about things and how feel about things influences how you see the world around you. How you think also determines your attitude toward things because your attitudes are largely governed by how you’re feeling. You actually shape your life by how you think.
You Become What You Think
The book of Proverbs states that a person is what they think about all the time (“as a man thinks so is he”). In the passage above Paul teaches you that how you feel about things comes from how you think about them. So you can change how you feel about anything by simply changing how you are thinking about them. This is simple but it takes time to develop as a lifestyle. If this was easy everyone would be practicing intentional thinking.
Paul gives a criteria of eight things to think about and to put into practice daily to gain control of your thoughts. These things will cleanse and renew your mind so that the peace of God can guide you. Joyce Meyer wrote about the battlefield of the mind and aptly stated that every victory is fought and won in your thought life. That’s great news because it means you will be victorious in any area of life if you choose to be.
So begin your life’s transformation today by taking control of your thinking. Follow Paul’s instructions and fill your mind with good thoughts. Be intentional and think purposefully, be proactive in your thinking and planning – you’ll be more in control of your future. Let the peace of God remain in you and Be Encouraged -JSP
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