You Are What You Think

Positive, faith-filled words are full of life, but negative words are full of death.

Many
years ago I was an extremely negative person. My whole philosophy was,
“Don’t expect anything good to happen, and then you won’t be
disappointed when it doesn’t.” So many devastating things had happened
to me through the years, I was afraid to believe something good might
actually happen.

Because my thoughts were all negative, my talk—and my life—were too.
Proverbs 23:7 says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. My life
was a reflection of my thoughts and my words.

When I began to study the Word in earnest and to trust God to restore
me, one of the first things I realized was that the negativism had to
go. And the longer I serve God, the more I realize the tremendous power
in being positive in my thoughts and words. Positive, faith-filled words
are full of life, but negative words are full of death.

Perhaps you are like I was. You are avoiding hope to protect yourself
against being hurt. Unfortunately, this type of behavior sets up a
negative lifestyle. Everything seems to go wrong because our thoughts
are negative.

But if you are thinking according to the mind of Christ, your thoughts
will be positive. God is positive, and if you want to flow with Him, you
must get on the same wavelength and begin to think positively.

Have a positive outlook and attitude. Maintain positive thoughts and expectations. Engage in positive conversation.

Throughout His life Jesus endured tremendous difficulties, including
personal attacks, and yet He remained positive. He always had an
uplifting comment, an encouraging word. He always gave hope to those
around Him.

The condition of your mind should be as described by Paul in Philippians
4:8. You have the mind of Christ, so begin to use it. If He wouldn’t
think it, you shouldn’t think it!

The road to freedom from negative thinking begins when we face the
problem without making excuses for it. The choice is ours. Any time we
don’t get what we want, our minds will rise up and try to get us into
self-pity and a negative attitude. Or we can choose to adjust to the
situation and go ahead and enjoy what God has for us no matter what
happens.

Stop and think about what you are thinking about. Satan usually deceives
people into believing that the source of their misery or trouble is
something other than what it is. But by continually “watching over”
your thoughts you can begin to take every thought captive to the
obedience of Jesus Christ (see 2 Cor. 10:5).

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that “we are assured and know
that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and
are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are
called according to [His] design and purpose” (The Amplified Bible).
Notice Paul does not say that all things are good, but he does say that
all things work together for good.

Paul also tells us in Romans 12:16 to “readily adjust yourself to
[people, things].” The idea is that we must learn to become the kind of
person who plans things but who doesn’t fall apart if that plan doesn’t
work out.

Let’s say you get in your car, and it won’t start. There are two ways you can look at the situation.

You can think: I knew it! It never fails. My plans always flop. Or you
can tell yourself: Well, it looks as if I can’t leave right now. I’ll go
later. But I believe this change in plans is going to work out for my
good. There is probably some reason I need to be at home today, so I’m
going to enjoy my time here.

Allow God to be the glory and lifter of your head (see Ps. 3:3). He
wants to lift everything: your hopes, attitudes, moods, head, hands,
heart–your entire life.

The Holy Spirit will be quick to caution you if your mind begins to take
you in a negative direction. The decision becomes yours whether or not
you will continue. Will you flow in the mind of the flesh or in the mind
of the Spirit? One leads to death, the other to life. The choice is
yours.

Joyce Meyer is the author of nearly 90 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and Power Thoughts (Hachette). She is the the host of Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs. Visit her online at joycemeyer.org.