Purpose

This blog focuses on the quest to know and please God in a constantly increasing way. The upward journey never ends. My prayer is that this blog will reflect a heart that seeks God and that it will encourage others who share the same heart desire.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Changing Wrong Thinking

So much of the battle for Christian growth takes place in the mind. The thoughts are the foundation for everything a person does and believes. Without correct thinking, a believer lives based on wrong underlying philosophies. Without proper thinking, he makes unbiblical choices, is easily swayed by others, and allows his life to be controlled by his emotions.

Incorrect thinking can be deliberate. From time to time, someone says something like this: “I know that’s what the Bible says, but I don’t care.” This person chooses to make his own thoughts the basis rather than God’s. The solution for this wrong thinking is to submit to God.

In many situations, incorrect thinking is due to ignorance. In these cases the believer has never been taught or has never sought out God’s answers to the issue in question. This can especially be true of new Christians and of those whose church attendance and personal Bible study have been limited. The solution for this incorrect thinking is to spend more time in the Word. For specific situations, there may be a need for focused study or for seeking counsel from a spiritual leader.

In the majority of situations, I believe that neither of these reasons is the key to wrong thinking. Many Christians know the truth for their situation and are willing to submit to that truth. The problem is in maintaining focus on that truth. How often has a Christian sincerely said, “I know what I need to believe, but I struggle to remember it”? He may find himself in a constant battle, wanting to believe the right thing, but finding those proper thoughts elusive. The solution for this problem is learning to control the thoughts.

For sake of illustration, imagine someone who has just been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. There are huge question marks about his prognosis. The doctors hold out little hope, and they have only a risky surgery to offer as a possible answer. It appears that this man’s days are limited.

The person in our first example may recognize the truths that his life is in God’s hands and that God is in control; instead of turning to God for help, however, he insists, “I have to fight this on my own.” He spends hours in research and seeks out extreme diets, intense physical regimens, alternative treatments, and so on. He is self-reliant, leaving God out of the decisions.

The person in our second scenario may think that doctors are the ones who can help him and that the answer is found in science. Not understanding God’s role, he depends on the doctors and relies solely on their advice. He goes to the support groups they suggest and talks to the counselors they recommend. He doesn’t understand the divine level of help that is available to him.

The third person knows the right truth to help him in this difficult time. He knows God is with him, that God can give wisdom, and that God’s grace is sufficient. At times he clings tenaciously to those truths and they give him hope. Just as frequently, those truths are chased out of his mind when the test results come back, when the doctor shares the odds of survival, when he thinks of his family’s having to live without him, or when the pain level surges in the middle of the night.

This person wants to think right thoughts. How does he do it? His thinking is corrected as he directs his thoughts to the Bible. He must first of all identify the correct thoughts and the truths that are especially applicable to his situation. For example, this man may realize that he needs the truth of Philippians 4:6-7, that God’s peace can replace his anxiety as he takes his requests to God. He may also focus on God’s constant presence (Hebrews 13:5), inseparable love (Romans 8:35-39), available wisdom (James 1:5), or sufficient grace (II Corinthians 12:9).

Having identified these truths, he needs to do something to make them readily accessible and to provide frequent reminders of them. He may write them in a notebook that he keeps with him, on cards that he places in his pocket, or on the desktop of his computer. His goal is to remember those thoughts as frequently as possible throughout the day.

Thinking correctly is a habit. Perhaps this man’s nature is to worry. Worry has been his habit for years. He needs to break that habit, something that is done with repeated efforts at establishing a new habit. Each time he focuses on truth throughout the day, his thoughts are corrected. They may remain correct for an hour or maybe only five minutes, but the next time he remembers the truth, his thoughts come back into line again. With practice, his thoughts will return to truth more frequently and remain on it for longer periods of time. Gradually the Word of God renews his mind and creates a new way of thinking.

Think of streams of water that flow down a bank. There are certain channels or grooves that the streams naturally follow. Someone who wants to change those channels, perhaps to protect his garden at the bottom of the bank, has to create new grooves to divert the water. He blocks off the current channels and digs new ones. At first the channels he makes may not be deep enough or may take unnatural turns. After the next rainstorm, the streams revert to their previous channels. The man goes back to work, and eventually through his digging of trenches and building of walls, the water comes to follow his channels just as naturally as it used to follow the old ones. The tendency toward the old channels may still exist, but it becomes increasingly less likely for the water to return to them as the landscape is changed.

There is no doubt that the mind is a battlefield. The battle is not easily won. It requires consistent and repeated attention. When the thoughts stray to their old patterns, the Christian must bring them back again to truth. This may happen dozens or even hundreds of times a day, but the truth of the Bible is powerful and effective. With continued readjustment by thinking according to the Bible, wrong thinking can be corrected and biblical thinking can prevail.

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2 (NASB)

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