Our Thoughts by Charles Stanley

Our Thoughts Read | Romans 12:1-2 The mind is the control tower of life. Your thoughts greatly influence not only your successes, failures, and choices but also your relationship with the Lord and others. Godliness comes from thinking the way God does. Yet there are several problems that can negatively impact your thought life. One of the most persistent is the influence of your past. When you were saved, God gave you a new spirit and a new life.  However, in letting you start over, He did not blot the past from your mind. The Father wants you to be able to draw from your good and bad experiences when ministering to others. He also wants you to appreciate His grace and knows it is important for you to remember what He rescued you from. Another problem is unsuitable input. Though we may think we are immune to the effect of harmful influences, what we allow into our minds does greatly impact our thinking. Unrighteous input creates an acceptance of and desire for worldly things. It can also lead to internal conflict: our godly thoughts are at odds with our ungodly appetites, which creates feelings of tension and guilt. As we begin to edit God from various parts of our lives, we allow Satan to gain a toehold. That’s why God tells us, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8). He knows that properly programming our mind can protect us from the Devil’s traps.