The title of this post is borrowed from a book by the same title written by Joyce Meyer several years ago. I read it at the time, but I don’t remember much now. Hopefully I can get around to rereading it in the near future.
I wanted to expand somewhat on an earlier post about how our thoughts lead our actions. As Meyer wrote, “Think about what you’re thinking about.” During the course of a normal day thousands of thoughts pass through our consciousness. Most thoughts are related to our work and routine—“I need to write checks today,” or “What should I make for dinner?” Some thoughts are truly random and meaningless—“I wonder what color Dennis Rodman’s hair is now?” (A good percentage of these seem to end up on Facebook!) Then there are thoughts that influence our choices—“What is on TV that I want to watch? Is it worth watching or should I be doing something else?”
At this time in my life, the thoughts that preoccupy my mind are ones that are entangled with emotions. Our memories are peculiar things, and those memories that involve strong emotions come to the surface most easily. If I ask what you were doing on January 15, 2005 you probably couldn’t tell me. But you can easily remember where you were on September 11, 2001. Of course the same is true of our personal history—the events that were especially good or bad often come to mind even without intentional thought. For those who have experienced some traumatic events, the darkness of that time can tend to overshadow a lot of smaller good events, and it takes some work to cut the trauma down to size in order to focus on something more positive. I’m not trying to minimize anyone’s pain, but we can’t let it color every day of our past, present and future.
Besides trying to put our memories in perspective, sometimes we need to uncover the source of thoughts that may seem random and yet elicit confused emotions within us. For example, if you make a mistake do you say, “Oops, I need to fix that,” or do you say, “I’m an idiot!” If it’s the latter, why are you belittling yourself by labeling one mistake as if it were a terminal disease? We all make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we are idiots, failures, or hopeless. Speak the truth to yourself.
More specifically, if a temptation to sin flits through your mind, do you tell yourself, “I can resist that temptation,” or do you think, “I’m such a sinner I can’t even stop the thoughts from coming”? I’m convinced that the enemy plants thoughts in our minds, and just the presence of the thought is no reflection on our faith or holiness. But how we respond to that thought is critical. If we are accustomed to giving in to the temptation, we need to learn to “resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). It takes ongoing practice to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
In The Pursuit of Holiness, Jerry Bridges gives perhaps the best explanation I’ve read of our responsibility in regard to holiness. Through Jesus Christ we have received salvation, justification and sanctification. We are no longer slaves of the old master. That means we have the option and ability to say no to sin and to obey God. Jesus made it possible, but we have the responsibility of putting it into practice. Sin is a choice.
The enemy is always going to try to make us sin, and he’s going to try to convince us that we are hopeless and helpless. As we were reminded during communion this Sunday, God convicts us of specific sins we need to repent of, but the enemy condemns us of being perpetual sinners, failures, and unworthy of God’s love. When those accusations come, we need to remind ourselves that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God never said, “I’ll forgive you when you’ve proven you’ve changed and stopped sinning.” I also find comfort in 1 Corinthians 6:11—after Paul has listed many categories of sinners he reminds us, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
When the anxiety about our salvation or our sinfulness comes to mind, we are reminded, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). I used to think these verses were just talking about the typical worries that fill our prayer lists like health, safety, and salvation of loved ones. But lately I find that I’m relying on God to guard my heart and mind in regard to my thoughts, and so I turn those anxieties over to Him and I give Him thanks for what He has already accomplished through Jesus Christ as well as for what He is doing in my life now and in the future. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). What better assurance is there?