Mastering Your Thoughts

Your thought life can do more than just distract you. Learn the key to getting control of your thoughts and learning to think God's way. Mastering your thoughts is the key to lifelong, routine victory.

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Transcript

So last episode I talked about managing distraction and one of the main points that I focused on was the fact that we have two kinds of distraction, internal and external distractions. The reality that I explained was that you have to get control of your thoughts because it is the internal distractions that affect us the most. We get into our own heads too much, and that can really stop us from being productive. Our thinking plays an essential role in our success or failure in almost everything in life. So today, I wanted to address just that power of managing your thought life well and how to do that from a Biblical perspective.

This takes the concept of managing distraction a little further. Most obstacles that we deal with come from our thoughts, meaning they aren’t actually big issues, we just think that they are. Getting things done is way more difficult when we are complaining about it or dreading it and overthinking how difficult it is going to be. If you approach a goal with the thoughts in the back of your mind, “this is really difficult,” or “this is going to take forever,” it’s really going to directly affect the way you approach it. These thoughts are going to drag you down and make things heavier and more complicated than they actually are. It’s all about perspective, right? So I want to give you a way to manage your thoughts that is going to help you with your life. Ultimately, if you can learn the discipline of governing your thoughts, you then have the formula for success. You can reach any goal if you set your mind the right way.

I love this, it’s so simple, but that doesn’t make it easy, right? You have to understand that controlling your thoughts is a full time job, and if you practice this discipline, I can guarantee you that it will set you free in so many areas of your life. Everything begins with a thought. 

Most of what holds us back is ourselves and our thinking. Let’s look at the Word on this.

Philippians 4:8 says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” This is literally a checklist to determine whether or not you are thinking the right thoughts. You have to train your brain to think positively. This might require actively taking a negative thought and turning it around into a positive one. Let’s try an example. The thought “I am not good at this,” can become “with practice I can get better at this.” Let’s try another one, “this is too hard for me, can become “this is challenging, but I can do hard things.” Get into the habit of using this checklist from Philippians 4 to filter your thoughts. If something comes to mind that doesn’t meet that positive criteria reject those thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Better yet, look for Bible verses that prove the opposite of your negative thoughts. 

God’s word is powerful and the more you meditate on God’s word, the better your thoughts will be. The better your thoughts are, the better your mood will be, your whole life will change if you do this. Memorize God’s word.

This is something that I am passionate about, because I learned firsthand how to overcome the limiting beliefs that stopped me from living out my calling, overcoming my bad habits, and having peace of mind.

I struggled with self-doubt, perfectionism, anxiety, feeling like I’m not good enough, procrastination, struggling with bad habits, feeling overwhelmed as a wife and a mother, and seasons of depression. If you have struggled, or you are struggling with any of those things right now, I have been there. My life is not perfect, and but I can say that now I have victory in these areas of my life. Once I learned an actual strategy to applying God’s word to my life, the power of it unlocked. I connected my understanding of the way our minds work with scripture, and now I have an unbeatable formula for transformation.

The Bible says in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” I feel a call from the Lord to help you, Jesus Women, get on track with His will, to be disciplined in your thinking, and obedient to His word.

I became certified as a life coach with specializations in life purpose, CBT cognitive behavioral therapy, and NLP neurolinguistic programming, basically brain training, because I wanted to have to tools necessary to help people overcome the toxic thinking patterns, win the mental battles of self-doubt and procrastination, and defeat habitual sins and struggles. What I discovered was these exercises and tools created a bridge between the power of God’s word and being able to truly engrain it in our hearts. I also discovered that many theories and discoveries in CBT and NLP were already truths laid out in scripture. There is nothing new under the sun, as it says in Ecclesiastes! I became so excited when I made the connections between how the mind works, and how simple it made overcoming long standing mental obstacles that keep people like you and me from living a victorious Christian life.

So let’s talk about Romans 12:2 and what that means. The point is to answer the question, “how do we live this out practically?” It says “do not conform to the pattern of this world.” This literally means that you are not supposed to blend in with everyone around you. When the whole world is doing things a certain way, and that’s a clear sign that you should be doing the opposite. The more people who are following a certain trend and taking a certain approach to certain circumstances and situations, the faster you should run. The standard is God’s word, and there is a Biblical manner in which you can approach everything. That’s what you need to follow. What does this look like practically? 

Three things: 

1.       Take everything to the Lord in prayer.

2.       Study scriptures specifically on the topics related to what you’re facing.

3.       Seek Godly counsel from believers who have victory in the areas you want victory in.

Back to Romans 12:2, it says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” That means that you need to take control of your thought life and you need to take time to intentionally change the way that you think. This is a process that you have to take an active role in. Study and meditate on God’s word and you will change your thinking, your moods, your emotions, your behaviors, and ultimately your habits, routines and just have victory in your life. All you need is God’s word.

Now, a word of caution. Two things, actually:

1.       Do not approach God’s word with your own ideas and attitudes or search the Bible to support the way that you already think. It’s easy to grab scriptures out of context and make it fit what you want it to fit, and that is extremely dangerous. You have to read surrounding verses and chapters and understand context, and be humble enough to let God’s word shape your thinking.

2.       You must be careful about any content that you take in, even Christian content. Guard your eyes and ears obviously from anything that will distract or draw you away from God, but also be discerning when it comes to consuming Christian content online or on television. I always stress the importance of knowing scripture for yourself and not depending on someone else to tell you what it says or what it means. Protect your thoughts.

So again, you cannot think like the world does and you have to actively renew your thinking according to God’s word. The next part of this verse is a promise. “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is.” I love this! People often wonder, “Oh, I’m not sure what God’s will is,” or “I don’t know what God wants me to do in this situation.” Stop overthinking it and overcomplicating it. God’s will is in His word. If you are sincerely seeking the Lord for direction, and you aren’t trying to just get God to bless your plans and work within your box of thinking, and you are honestly praying and searching His word, He is going to make it plain as day what His will is. God is not a God of confusion. He wants you to know His will, He wants you to know His ways, He wants you to know His plans, that’s what His word is for!

Sis, if you are struggling today, take a look at your thoughts. What have you been thinking? What have you been doing or not doing? What’s going on in your mind that causing you to trip up in areas you know you can do better in? What’s stopping you from stepping out in faith and doing what you know God is calling you to? What lies of the enemy are you secretly buying into? Let’s take a look at that. 

You have to evaluate the things that you watch, the things that you listen to, and the people you are spending time with. Guard your heart, protect your thoughts. All of these things, the social media, the shows on streaming, the music you listen to, it all has a direct effect on how you think, moreso than you realize, so be mindful of the spiritual diet that you are on. This has a direct impact on your life and the level of victory you are seeing within it.

I am a certified life coach, and I have methods that I use myself and that I teach that practically help you to apply God’s word to your thought life, help you reach your goals, and set you on the path to fulfill God’s call in your life. Get connected in the Jesus women community today! You can join for free and access the community and other content that I share, and if you support the show, for just $7/month you’ll get a free pdf copy of my book “Slow and Steady: Biblical Wisdom from the Hare and the Tortoise,” just as a thank you for supporting the show. Stay in touch! I have some new things coming out soon, a new coaching program, a new book, more episodes every week. Subscribe if you haven’t already, and remember don’t quit, get equipped! God bless you, take care!