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What you think about...
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Friday, July, 09, 2010
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by John Fischer
What do you think about when you're not aware of what you're thinking? An argument could be made that a person's thoughts are their own business. This is true to a point, but sooner or later, a person's thoughts become the business of everyone around them. That's because a person's thoughts never stay their thoughts. Eventually their thoughts determine their actions—more than that—they determine who they are.
Jesus put it this way: "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45) When this overflow takes place, we don't know. A person may be able to live something that is contrary to their heart for a while, but sooner or later his inner life becomes his outer expression, good or bad.
Many Scriptures place a high value on what we think about, but none as clearly as Paul's admonition in Philippians: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praise-worthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)
This verse immediately raises the question as to how one does this. Are we to arrange our world and our experiences so as to only encounter that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and worthy of praise so that these will be the things that fill our minds most of the time? Though this appears to be the most common interpretation of this verse, it is hard to imagine anyone really finding and maintaining such a pristine environment for any length of time. Our environment and responsibilities in society force us to encounter much that is false, ignoble, wrong, impure, ugly, less than admirable, and not worthy of praise. How can we limit being exposed to bad things if we live in a world that constantly throws both bad and good at us? Can we realistically ensure only good things will enter our minds?
The important distinction to make here is that Paul is not talking about what we are exposed to—what we encounter in the world—but rather, what we think about. What we observe and what we think about are two very different things. This is not about what is in our field of vision as much as it is about what occupies our mind. You can't always control what you see, but you can control what you think about.
So decide what will you think about today. It will make a difference in who you are, and what you do.
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