“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:20-23) [ESV]
“Be careful what you think about because your thoughts run your life!” (Proverbs 4:23) [NCV]
9 Pillars For New Thinking:
- My thoughts control my life, but I control my thoughts.
“Be careful what you think about because your thoughts run your life!” (Proverbs 4:23) [NCV] “… your life is shaped by your thoughts.” [GNT]
- Any change I want in my life must start in my mind.
“Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.” (Romans 12:2) [GNT]
- I can change how I feel by changing how I think.
“My heart is breaking, so I turn my thoughts to God.” (Psalm 42:6) [GNT]
- Every behavior is based on a belief.
“A foolish person will believe anything. But a wise person thinks about what he does.” (Proverbs 14:15) [ICB]
- At the moment that I sin, I’m believing a lie.
“Temptation comes from the lure of our own inner desires. These evil desires
lead to evil actions, and the actions lead to death.” (James 1:14-15) [NLT]
- An unseen war is going on in AND for my mind.
“It seems to be a fact of life that while I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I want to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there’s something else deep within me that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin inside me. In my mind I want to be God’s servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin.” (Romans 7:21-23) [LTB]
- To win the battle in and for my mind, I must have God’s Spirit and God’s Word inside of me.
“We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) [NCV]
- My goal is to learn to think like Jesus.
“Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through, and more, learn to think like him.” (1 Peter 4:1) [MSG]
- Rethinking my life to match how Jesus thinks is called repenting.
“METANOIA” (Greek): to change your mind.
“Repent — change your mind and return back to God — so that all your sins may be erased — blotted out and wiped clean — and so that times of refreshing…and recovering…and reviving…may come from the presence of the Lord!” (Acts 3:19) [Amp]