It might seem odd to say this, but most of us don’t give much thought to our thoughts. I know we can have thoughts that don’t have any real significance: like what we’re going to have for lunch. However, I want to talk about the deep thoughts of our hearts. These are the thoughts that will influence the direction of our lives.
We might not think that our lives are the result of our thoughts, but Proverbs 23:7a says “For as he (a person) thinks within himself (his heart), so he is.” Our thoughts determine who we are. So, we can say with certainty that the current state of our lives is a direct reflection of what we think about ourselves and others.
Now that we know this, we should think about the direction our lives will go if the majority of our thoughts are negative, especially our thoughts about ourselves. Not all of us talk to ourselves out loud, but we do in our own minds.
What are we saying about us to us? Do our inner voices sound something like this: “This is as good as it’s ever going to get.” “Nothing ever goes my way.”?
Or is it more serious than that? There are stories about people who deal with depression and anxiety whose constant thoughts are, “I am nothing and will always be nothing.” “I’ve messed my whole life up beyond repair.” These thoughts play like a song on repeat in their heads all day, every day.
There are some of us who live with thoughts like this, and it shapes our whole lives. We never rise above them. It’s like living under a dark cloud where it seems no light can penetrate.
The grace of God can break through that darkness. We are saved and made righteous by grace, and by now we know that righteousness is right-standing with God. It means we are accepted and loved by God.
While the world and the negative people in it have probably treated us like a throwaway and told us that we’re insignificant, God steps in and calls us accepted and precious in His sight. If we have the Creator of the Universe saying that we are important, it probably means that we’re important, right?
This should drastically change the way we think about ourselves. Believing in and meditating on our righteousness in Christ is adopting God’s thoughts about us.
Isaiah 55:8-9 says “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”
We will begin to experience the higher life God has for us when we start to think the higher thoughts He thinks about us.
It’s as simple as this: when we have negative thoughts about ourselves we should say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am accepted and loved by God.” Say it out loud. When we do this, we are lining up our opinion about ourselves with God’s opinion about us. Try it. I promise it will change your life.
Don Caywood 