Check Your Thought Life

Proverbs 23:6&7 - Eat not the bread of him who has a hard, grudging, and envious eye, neither desire his dainty foods; for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you [but is grudging the cost].

This script is indicating that no matter what we see on the outside, the truth of who we are is made known by our thoughts. This host appeared to be generous but in his heart he was begrudging every bite of food that his guests consumed.

Further understanding of this principle lets us know that what we meditate upon will be manifested in our life. This is the lesson I want to focus on today. I’m not talking about some hocus pocus or “positive envisioning”; I am talking about the grounded Word of God which indicates that our thoughts are powerful and bring forth realities for us:

Proverbs 4:23 - Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Colossians 2:3-5 - Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Mark 7:20-23 - And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Because our thoughts are so powerful, we need to examine our thought life. We need to keep our thoughts in check, ensuring that they are in line with the truth of the Word of God. Psychologists who study depression will confirm that negative thought patterns are often the culprit for depression. Now, I will pause and say that some people have a genetic predisposition to depression, some are affected by hormones, medications and medical conditions, and other factors – but a frequent cause for depression is as simple as rumination on negative thoughts. I experienced something like this just the other day.

I began my day doing some work around the house and something I did (I can’t recall what it was) triggered a memory of a negative exchange that happened with a friend a few years ago. And without realizing it, as I continued to do my housework, I continued to ruminate on that incident as well as some subsequent encounters. I was working and thinking, thinking and working, cleaning and ruminating, ruminating and cleaning. I went on about my day doing some other things but realized toward the end of my day that I had a bad attitude. I had a cloud hanging over my head and I was feeling down. I had not had a bad day at all – I was productive, I’d spent time with family, it was beautiful weather - but I realized that I had started my day with negative ruminations and that negativity had stayed with me throughout the day, resulting in a bad attitude, feeling down, and feelings of dissatisfaction at the end of my day.

What a man meditates upon in his heart, he becomes. As a man meditates on the negative, he is negative. As a man meditates on injustice, he lacks grace. As a man meditates on his faults (or the faults of others), he is judgmental. As a man meditates on hurt, he is hurtful. BUT… As a man meditates on the positive, he is positive. As a man meditates on mercy, he is merciful. As a man meditates on compassion, he is compassionate. As a man meditates on love, he is sacrificial.

How is your thought life? What do your life circumstances or behaviors reveal about your thought life? Are your thoughts in line with your goals? Are your thoughts in line with your foundational beliefs? Are your thoughts in line with what the Word of God says?

Just some questions to explore.