"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1
Who do you strive to resemble most? Who do you most want to model your behavior after? Who do you want to impress the most? Your friends? Your family? Your pastor? Your boss? Strangers you meet on the street or in the market place? Who do you look like in the mirror?
A while back I had a friend challenge me to realize who I really was. I was thinking that I wasn't much of anything anymore. That my "reality" was gone. He frankly reminded me that I am a child of Jesus Christ and the living God, he reminded me that my thoughts resorted into actions. Who was I trying to impress? Who's approval was I trying to seek? Christ's or the world's?
It is one thing to try and model our behavior after another believer in your church and try to fit in, but it's another thing to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. That is the transformation that starts with our thinking, then moves inward to our hearts, where it begins to clean out the darkest corners of our heart and removing the "junk" that we don't want anyone to see. It will eventually mold us into the person that God has always intended us to be.
Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a man thinketh, so is he." (KJV) That scripture has been so true in my own life. When I feel good I think good thoughts about who I am and what I am doing and in turn when my thoughts are wrong my actions are often wrong as well. The glass half empty or the glass half full. In any given thing we face, our own view of it will direct how we respond to it, either positively or negatively. Our thinking will often shine a light on how we feel inside - worry and despair or confidence and hope. James Allen once said, "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts."
We all know that our character is more than a product of our thoughts. The values that we hold dear and how we implement them into our lives and relationships are key parts of who we are as a people. The vision and purpose of our lives and how it is guided by God is what builds our character. That is how Paul described character: it starts with our mind and flows from there into every aspect of who we are and who the world will see and be impacted by - either for good or not. And that character will strengthen our confident hope of salvation.
Friend, your thoughts lead to values of your heart, which lead to character and hope. Take care of yourself and guard your thoughts.
Remember, as you think so you are.
Who do you strive to resemble most? Who do you most want to model your behavior after? Who do you want to impress the most? Your friends? Your family? Your pastor? Your boss? Strangers you meet on the street or in the market place? Who do you look like in the mirror?
A while back I had a friend challenge me to realize who I really was. I was thinking that I wasn't much of anything anymore. That my "reality" was gone. He frankly reminded me that I am a child of Jesus Christ and the living God, he reminded me that my thoughts resorted into actions. Who was I trying to impress? Who's approval was I trying to seek? Christ's or the world's?
It is one thing to try and model our behavior after another believer in your church and try to fit in, but it's another thing to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. That is the transformation that starts with our thinking, then moves inward to our hearts, where it begins to clean out the darkest corners of our heart and removing the "junk" that we don't want anyone to see. It will eventually mold us into the person that God has always intended us to be.
Proverbs 23:7 says, "As a man thinketh, so is he." (KJV) That scripture has been so true in my own life. When I feel good I think good thoughts about who I am and what I am doing and in turn when my thoughts are wrong my actions are often wrong as well. The glass half empty or the glass half full. In any given thing we face, our own view of it will direct how we respond to it, either positively or negatively. Our thinking will often shine a light on how we feel inside - worry and despair or confidence and hope. James Allen once said, "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts."
We all know that our character is more than a product of our thoughts. The values that we hold dear and how we implement them into our lives and relationships are key parts of who we are as a people. The vision and purpose of our lives and how it is guided by God is what builds our character. That is how Paul described character: it starts with our mind and flows from there into every aspect of who we are and who the world will see and be impacted by - either for good or not. And that character will strengthen our confident hope of salvation.
Friend, your thoughts lead to values of your heart, which lead to character and hope. Take care of yourself and guard your thoughts.
Remember, as you think so you are.
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