Authors: Joyce Meyer
Tags: #Religion / Christian Life / Personal Growth, #Religion / Christian Life / Inspirational, #RELIGION / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth
And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.
Colossians 3:2
To set our minds on what is above doesn’t mean that we should sit around all day thinking about Heaven. It does mean that we should put our mind on God’s will for us and the most excellent way to live. I love to say it this way: “Where the mind goes, the man follows.” You can set your mind for the actions of the day with on-purpose thinking early in the morning. In other words, you can think about what you want to think about throughout the day. Perhaps it would go like this:
Today, I am going to think thoughts that will help me and other people. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I am going to think thoughts that will energize me and release joy in my life. I choose to think about what I can do for others, instead of thinking selfish thoughts. I have the mind of Christ
[see 1 Corinthians 2:16]
, and I am going to use it to think like He would think.
This doesn’t mean that all wrong thoughts will simply vanish, but it will make you more aware of them so you can cast them down and choose better ones (see 2 Corinthians 10:4–5).
I have learned that if I am tired, lacking energy, or even exhausted, thinking about it all day only makes it worse. When we feel bad, we usually think about it and talk about it so much that how we feel begins to consume us. When my husband
doesn’t feel good, he rarely talks about it. However, I tend to want people to know that I feel bad! I am sure that what I really want is some sympathy, but it doesn’t make me feel better even if I do get it. I do know that thinking and talking about feeling bad or tired keeps me focused on it. If, on the other hand, I go do something and get my mind off of how I feel, I forget all about it. For women, shopping often helps us forget how bad we feel! It is amazing how much energy I can find if I run into a good sale. If you are a woman reading this, I am sure you know what I mean.
Energy is very important! It affects our creativity levels and ability to focus and has a huge impact on our desire and motivation to do things. It is sad how many people in the world are tired. It may be from lack of sleep, stress, poor food choices, and health problems, and each of those problems needs to be addressed, but a great deal of energy is lost through energy-draining thoughts! You can change yours into energy-producing thoughts, so I recommend that you start today!
• We won’t become so tired of doing what we do in life if we are more careful concerning how we think about our lives.
• Don’t wait for a feeling to motivate you. Choose your thoughts, stir yourself up, and do what God has placed in your heart to do.
• Fear robs your energy, but faith revives it.
• Negative thoughts—bitterness, guilt, discouragement, resentment, unforgiveness—always steal your energy.
The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.
Mark Twain
There are many voices that try to shape the way we think about every part of ourselves—our appearance, our abilities, our potential, and our identity. But those voices can be misleading. The opinions of the world, the accusations of our adversary, and our own thoughts and feelings don’t define us.
The Bible teaches that the true identity, worth, and value of a believer is found in Christ. Our confidence is in Him (see Philippians 3:3). It doesn’t matter what people think or say, or what our circumstances look like; we are defined by the fact that God loves and accepts us completely. To walk with God, we need to be in agreement with Him, and that involves learning to think as He thinks.
Wrong thinking about ourselves can lead to what I refer to as a case of “mistaken identity.” I saw a movie about a woman who was sent to prison for something she didn’t do because of a case of mistaken identity. Someone identified her as the guilty party, but they were wrong. When we have a case of mistaken identity, or we fail to know our worth and value as a child of God, we can also end up
in prison. It may be an emotional prison of fear, self-hatred, poor self-image, lack of confidence, and many other unpleasant things. Jesus came to announce the release of the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound (see Isaiah 61:1).
He has opened the prison doors, but we must be willing to walk out of them and learn a new way of thinking and living. We can learn how to think about ourselves the way God thinks about us!
Today in our society we hear a lot about the dangers of having your identity stolen. People have even gone to the extreme of taking out insurance policies that cover them from such fraud and theft. I have wondered if what is happening in the world is a mirror image of what is happening to people in the spiritual realm. It seems that more and more in our society today people think their identity is found in success in business, financial status, social status, the neighborhood one lives in, level of education, et cetera. They are wrong. They are seeking an identity that can come crashing down at any moment. Henri Nouwen said it this way:
Jesus came to announce to us that an identity based on success, popularity and power is a false identity—an illusion! Loudly and clearly He says: “You are not what the world makes you; but you are children of God.”
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Jesus is our insurance policy against identity theft. When we know who we are in Him, then our value is secured for all time and cannot be shaken by anything. You are not loved because you are valuable—you are valuable because you are loved. Perhaps you have learned to be your own worst enemy, but now it is time to be your own best friend.
You are not loved because you are valuable—you are valuable because you are loved.
Sally Field said, “It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else’s eyes.”
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We can know within ourselves who we are as children of God, and when we do, nothing can ever make us feel worthless and devalued. Meditate on this today:
God loves you!
If you think about that long enough, you will start to believe it, and when that happens you will begin to know how truly powerful you are.
Most of us enter our teenage years and young adulthood trying to prove through our accomplishments that we have value or that we are important. But the truth is that we are already important to God even before we accomplish anything in life. As a matter of fact, knowing that we are important to Him is what releases us to do great things for His glory, instead of our own.
This scripture gives us insight into this truth:
Before I formed you in the womb I knew and approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you.
Jeremiah 1:5
Reading a Scripture like this is helpful, but meditating on it (thinking about it over and over) is the most helpful. It renews our mind and teaches us to think in new ways that line up with God’s will.
Have you ever taken any time to consider what you think about yourself? Most people have not, but it is an important thing to do. I can remember desperately struggling for most of my life with myself, but I finally learned to see myself as God does, and it revolutionized my life. My father had told me I was no good
and would never amount to anything, but God tells me that I am His and that through Him, I can do greater things than I could ever imagine. It really isn’t what other people think about us that hurts us, but it is what we think of ourselves!
God by His grace changes us on the inside, and then the Holy Spirit works with us, teaching us to live inside out! We are made right with God through faith in Christ. We are sanctified, and that means we are set apart and made holy by Him. These and many other wonderful works are accomplished in our spirits by God’s grace. It is His gift to us! When we learn to believe what God has done in us, we will produce the fruit of it in our daily lives.
We may not do everything right, but God views us as right through our faith in Jesus and His work on the cross for us. The world places labels and assigns varying values to almost everything, but to God we are all equal. He loves and values each of us equally. We are all one in Christ!
I am not a mistake just because I make mistakes! Start meditating on that and speaking it out loud several times a day, and you will be a happier person. Don’t spend your time thinking over and over about your faults. Don’t compare yourself with other people, thinking that you should strive to be like them. Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
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I am not a mistake just because I make mistakes!
Do you like yourself? I pray that you do, because you are going to spend every moment of your life with you. You will never get away from yourself, not even for a second, so I strongly suggest that you make peace with yourself if you haven’t already done so, and learn to think about yourself the way God does.
None of us will ever go beyond what we think of ourselves. If we think we cannot do something, then we won’t be able to do it.
Theodore Roosevelt said, “Believe you can and you’re already halfway there.”
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More importantly, Jesus said in Matthew 21:22 (NIV), “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Do you believe that you can do whatever you need to do in life through Christ Who is your strength (see Philippians 4:13)? Most people have a great deal more ability than is ever released in their life because they doubt their abilities. They assume they can’t, without ever finding out if they can!
A very popular children’s story is not only helpful to children, but can also be helpful to us as adults. It is called “The Story of the Engine That Thought It Could.”
In a certain railroad yard there stood an extremely heavy train that had to be drawn up an unusually heavy grade before it could reach its destination. The superintendent of the yard was not sure what was best for him to do, so he went up to a large, strong engine and asked: “Can you pull that train over the hill?”
“It is a very heavy train,” responded the engine.
He then went to another great engine and asked: “Can you pull that train over the hill?”
“It is a very heavy grade,” it replied.
The superintendent was much puzzled, but he turned to still another engine that was spick and span new, and he asked it: “Can you pull that train over the hill?”
“I think I can,” responded the engine.
So the order was circulated, and the engine was started back so that it might be coupled with the train, and as it went along the rails it kept repeating to itself: “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”
The coupling was made and the engine began its journey, and all along the level, as it rolled toward the ascent,
it kept repeating to itself: “I… think… I can. I… think… I… can. I… think… I… can.”
Then it reached the grade, but its voice could still be heard: “I think I can. I… think… I… can. I… think… I… can.” Higher and higher it climbed, and its voice grew fainter and its words came slower: “I… think… I… can.”
It was almost to the top.
“I… think.”
It was at the top.
“I… can.”
It passed over the top of the hill and began crawling down the opposite slope.
“I… think… I… can… I… thought… I… could… I… thought… I… could. I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.”
And singing its triumph, it rushed on down toward the valley.
Go through life saying, “I think I can,” and you will be amazed at what you will accomplish. When we have confidence, it empowers us to be all we can be. Positive thinking that is in agreement with God’s Word releases the power and ability of God in us. How often do you say, “I don’t think I can,” but you haven’t even tried yet? Keep your eyes on Jesus, not on yourself, and you will be surprised at what you can do with His help.
While walking through the forest one day, a man found a young eagle who had fallen out of his nest. He took it home and put it in his barnyard where it soon learned to eat and behave like the chickens. One day a naturalist passed by the
farm and asked why it was that the king of all birds should be confined to live in the barnyard with the chickens. The farmer replied that since he had given it chicken feed and trained it to be a chicken, it had never learned to fly. Since it now behaved as the chickens, it was no longer an eagle.
“Still it has the heart of an eagle,” replied the naturalist, “and can surely be taught to fly.” He lifted the eagle toward the sky and said, “You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The eagle, however, was confused. He did not know who he was, and seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again.
The naturalist took the bird to the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, “You are an eagle. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” But again the eagle was afraid of his unknown self and the world and jumped down once more for the chicken food.
Finally the naturalist took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain. There he held the king of the birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, “You are an eagle. You belong to the sky. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The eagle looked around, back towards the barnyard and up to the sky. Then the naturalist lifted him straight towards the sun and it happened that the eagle began to tremble. Slowly he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, soared away into the heavens.
It may be that the eagle still remembers the chickens with nostalgia. It may even be that he occasionally revisits the barnyard. But as far as anyone knows, he has never returned to lead the life of a chicken.
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We can see from this story that no matter how strongly the naturalist believed the eagle was an eagle, he continued to behave
as a chicken until his own thinking and belief about himself changed. God already believes in you; now you can learn to think differently about yourself. Are you an eagle that has believed the lie that you are a chicken? If so, it is time to get out of the chicken yard and learn to fly!