The way you see life impacts not only your own life but also the lives of others and your general state of well-being.
Thoughts are powerful!
Thoughts are powerful because our thinking affects how we feel and respond to situations.
Every day we are faced with choices—the choice to accept positive thoughts or the choice to accept negative thoughts. Therefore, what we choice should not be treated casually because the way you think determines how you act.
Have you noticed how your thinking affects the way your day goes?
Imagine you have a project deadline for the next day at work. If you express dissatisfaction about receiving the assignment at the last minute, it could sour your mood. This attitude may lead to stress, making the project seem overwhelming, consequently impacting your performance and potentially your well-being.
But by resisting the temptation to complain and instead say, "I will do my best," you can concentrate on finding a solution to the problem, which will enable you to meet your deadline without feeling burdened or anxious.
Or suppose you were raised in a setting where you observed conflict in your parents' relationship. As you mature and engage in your own relationships, you might find yourself exhibiting comparable behaviors of anger or resentment. This is due to the impact of your surroundings on your mindset, which in turn affects your behavior.
If you were raised in a violent environment, it could lead to feelings of anxiety. If your caregiver was self-critical and critical of you, you may have adopted similar behavior patterns, which could result in feelings of inadequacy or insecurity.
Perhaps your successful, yet feel undeserving. You may be attractive, but perceive yourself as unappealing.
Regardless of the underlying reason, our thoughts are connected to everything in our lives and why knowing the right way to think is important.
Your mind is the battleground. It is where we must be cautious and careful of the voices we listen to. And where we should combat the wrong thoughts that want to negatively affect our emotions and life.
Be careful who you listen to.
Four types of voices are present in our lives: our own, those of others, our enemies, and God's.
Our voice is not reliable because we have biases, insecurities, fears, limitations, and limited knowledge. People often offer advice based on personal comparisons, their own experiences, limited understanding of you, restricted life experiences, and may influence us to place our faith in systems, material possessions, individuals, or resources rather than in God.
Following is the voice of the adversary, Satan. His sole intention for your life is to steal, kill, and destroy it (John 10:10). He is a killer, a deceiver (the father of lies), and is unable to speak the truth to you (John 8:44). There is no one more deceptive than him.
He not only attempts to end your life physically, but he also tries to kill your dreams and purpose.
When he speaks it comes from his sadistic character. He is someone who creeps around looking for someone to destroy. Someone who lies to you so you can be misled instead of knowing, bound instead of free, and useless instead of effective.
He wants to steal, kill, and destroy your peace, joy, and purpose.
“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray...”
— 2 Corinthians 11:3
Next, we have the voice of God. When God speaks it is from his character: unconditional love.
His love consists of his goodness, mercy, gentleness, patience, enduring nature, understanding, kindness, caring demeanor, selflessness, and His deep desire and passion for us.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”
—John 3:16.
His love is too deep, strong, and unconditional to leave us the way we are; and His love looks beyond our faults and instead sees our need.
His love is everlasting and endless, including qualities such as faithfulness, loyalty, kindness, humility, patience, understanding, gentleness, mercy, compassion, being gracious, and beyond.
When God speaks you get wisdom, knowledge, unconditional love, purpose, joy, peace, and much more (Proverbs 2:6, Galatians 5:22).
There is nothing good that God will withhold from you (Psalm 84:11). He wants you to have all of Him so you can live a life filled with satisfaction.
His voice should be the only voice we listen to because He alone can see our lives past, present, and future all at once. Also, He is the only one that has our blueprint for life that guarantees success.
He is the only one that knows what is best for you and can give you the best, whether in resources or advice (John 14:16, John 14:26, John 16:13).
He speaks. Dare to listen and see the results.
There's a way that God talks to us, and the Word of God (which is also His voice) will help you to know how.
"By planting a thought, we harvest an action. By planting an action, we harvest habits. By planting habits, we harvest character, and our character determines our destiny."
If we are not taught the right way to think then we will succumb to wrong thinking; and negative thinking is the reason why some people are where they are in life right now.
If you have ever battled with depression, then you know how far accepting wrong and negative thoughts can take you. The mental battle you experience is sometimes beyond one’s control.
The books of Philippians 4:8 and Colossians 3:8 help us to understand the kinds of thinking we should "think”or "avoid” to live a happier life.
With Gods help, you will have the ability to take control of any thought that is negative and think about things that are positive and edifying. Through the Scriptures, you will be able to replace those negative thoughts with God's truth. And you will see how unseen thoughts produce visible consequences.
You will become an overcomer because you will no longer be influenced by negative thinking.
It is important to understand that when a thought enters our mind, we should examine it based on truth and determine if we should continue down the path or reject the thought and replace it with another.
Romans 12:2 says,
"Don't change yourselves to be like the people of this world [how others think], but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking..."
What God wants for you is to live a successful, influential, and impactful life. While our enemy wants to hold us in bondage by our thinking with lies to make us feel worthless. But you are valuable and precious to God (John 3:16, Jeremiah 31:3, Romans 5:8).
You are so valuable that He knows the number of hair strands you have because every detail about you matters (Matthew 10:30). You were made with caution and admiration, and the deal was sealed by crowning you with glory and honor (Psalm 139:14; Psalm 8:5). An excerpt from It's OK To Be Single.
By thinking like God, you will have a happier, fulfilled, meaningful, and purposeful life. It will enable you to have a long life, protection, energy, sound sleep, joy, happiness, be fearless, full of wisdom, confidence, discretion, honor, respect, success, wealth, favor, and have an abundant life.
If You Could Change Your Life, Would You?
Is it possible your life is the way it is because of how you think?
If you had the opportunity to change your life, would you take it?
And if you could change your circumstances right now, would you do it?
How badly do you want to see change in your life, the lives of those you love, and the lives of others?
If some of us were to answer these questions truthfully, we would discover that our thinking has led us to the life that we are currently living now.
There is a Proverbs that says, "Death and life are in the power of your tongue.” This is powerful. This means we have full control over the course of our lives based on what we say.
If you were to look back over your life, you will see some correlations to how your lifestyle is now compared to what you said about yourself, your life, and your circumstances.
What you think about is what you will speak about. And what you speak about comes from what is in your heart.
What goes into your heart can come from the outside. These outside influences are your environment, what you watch, what you listen to, what you read, and who you hang around with.
Who or what you listen to should be motivational and inspiring. It should encourage you to change your situation if change is needed. And it should influence you to strive for greatness.
Life will always throw barriers, but to overcome them your thinking must be ready and prepared, and the Bible helps you to become prepared and helps you to overcome those barriers.
It lets you know who you are, and how your life can become everything that God says about it.
When you think of thoughts that are edifying, powerful, and life changing, it will remove doubt, fear, and barriers that plague your mind.
We are creative beings with the ability to think. This is what separates us from animals who act by instinct. This ability makes us think beyond the natural realm—increasing our capabilities.
So, if you are thinking with limitations then you are thinking below your natural abilities.
A person whose thinking is always negative will be met with misfortune. This is because whatever you think and say will eventually happen.
There is a principle that most of us may be familiar with, and it is the principle of sowing and reaping. Galatians 6:7 tells us,"whatever a man sows, so shall he also reap.” Whatever you plant or invest in, that is what you will eventually get.
Some of us have heard it as the golden rule. The golden rule is a principle that Jesus taught in His sermon on the mountain.
If you sow criticism, then criticism will come back to you. If you sow lack of love, mercy, and compassion then you will get little or none in return. If your words harm and hinder another person’s life, then it will happen to you too.
If you think negatively, negative things will keep happening to you. It is a law like gravity or The Law of Thermodynamics. Whatever you invest your thinking into, you will reap it in your character, then your actions, and then your life.
You cannot expect to receive things, stuff, situations, and behaviors from others if you do not sow it yourself. If you have sown negative words and actions to yourself, negative words and actions will be given to you and affect your livelihood.
The word sow means to scatter, throw in various random directions, to establish, deposit, and to put out there. It is what you leave.
So, if you want success think about it, if you want peace then you must speak it. If you want change then envision it. Eventually it will become your thought, get into your heart, then it will become your reality.
We must saturate our minds with the truth about ourselves from Scripture to know who we are in Christ because when you do not know who you are you will think less of yourself.
Your identity is your individuality or the mark you leave while here on earth, the lasting effect you have on others, and who you were created to be. Knowing and living with your own identity is needed to succeed in life. An excerpt from It's Ok To Be Single
Knowing who you are is powerful. Knowing who you are is freeing, and knowing who you are makes you unstoppable; and the best way to find the true nature of a design is to ask its maker and I would encourage you to do just that.
Find out what God has to say about you, not what others say, and once you have found the answer, you will see how you can change your life, by changing your thinking.
How has your life been affected by your thinking? Share below, we'd love to hear.
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A call for salvation
When you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, His spirit will come to live inside you. This is one of the greatest blessings of salvation. You don't have to go through someone else to get to God, and He will live in your heart where you and Him become one and have a relationship.
All you have to do is make the choice of salvation by repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus into your life by confessing that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He came from Heaven to die for your sins (Romans 10:9).
Here's a prayer you can repeat:
"Jesus, I confess that you are Lord, and I believe you died and was risen for my sins. I repent and ask for forgiveness of my sins, and I accept you as my personal Lord and Savior. Come into my heart and remove my sins. Thank you for forgiving me and making me into a new person in Jesus' name, Amen."
Once you have done this, please pray and ask God to guide you to a ministry where you can grow, mature, and start living the abundant life Jesus promised and died for.
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