CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Philippians 4:8

It’s hard to describe what goes on in the thinking process. According to research, the average person has approximately 60,000 thoughts per day, so the sheer numbers makes it very difficult for the average person to control. Your thoughts drive your words, your actions, your habits, your character, and ultimately, your purpose. If Jesus is going to be the center of your life, it starts with your thoughts.

The Apostle Paul urged the new Christians in Rome to let God’s Word change their thinking process. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12.2).

We may not often think about it, but God thinks about us constantly. He doesn’t view our relationship with Him like a checklist. He continues to think about us, care about us, and always be interested in us. Could we say we think about Him the same way? It begs the question what do your thoughts reveal about your relationship with God? How often do you think about God throughout your day? How can you increase the amount you think about God each day?

Psalm 19:14 says, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” This verse describes how God wants us to think. He wants us to consider whether the things that come out of our mouths and inside our hearts are pleasing to Him.  In other words, our thoughts matter.  The battle to deal with the things hampering your spiritual growth starts in your mind.

God changes you into a new person by first changing your thoughts. Paul knew how hard it was to reign in your mind and direct your thoughts toward Jesus. He knew how hard it was to avoid being distracted and going all over the place. He knew it, and he gave some good advice in Philippians 4:8.

God’s thoughts are higher than ours, but thank God He wrote them down. Just as our minds contain rational thoughts, which we think every day, and “heart” thoughts that make up the underlying pattern of how we think, the Bible also contains what God thinks about any subject. So, we cannot instinctively think God’s thoughts, but we can read His thoughts.

God’s thoughts in His written word can impart life to us and transform our thoughts to be more like His. Jesus said His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is a powerful living thing. God has given the Word of God the power to change how we think.

Discussion Questions:

1. How can you learn to think like Jesus? What’s one practical way you can do it this week?
2. What would you like to change about yourself? Would you like to be more confident, relaxed, outgoing, or less anxious?
3. How can you replace toxic thoughts with God’s thoughts?