The Good, but not the Bad and the Ugly

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.” (Philippians 4:8)

 

Well, when it comes to post submitted by Dave Trotta - it is, without a doubt, the good and not the bad or the ugly. Please be ministered to by his post today! 

Stephen B. 

 

Based on studies, it is estimated that humans have anywhere from 12,000 – 70,000 thoughts per day, and of those thoughts, 60% - 80% are negative in nature.  So, even if we took the best case scenario – 60% of 12,000 – that would still translate into an average of 7,200 negative thoughts each day!  We will probably never know for certain how accurate those numbers are, but even if they are widely inflated, we are still looking at a very sobering number of negative thoughts that parade through our minds on a daily basis.

 

How can we sustain such an onslaught of negative thoughts without them severely impacting our ability to see ourselves and others as God sees us?  We can’t!  Given the sheer volume, no matter how hard we try, if we don’t choose to think differently, many of those thoughts are bound to take root and produce an undesirable harvest in our lives.  No wonder God gave us explicit instructions in Philippians 4:8 to fill our minds and mediate on “the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”

 

The next time you think “I’m not talented or smart enough,” instead choose to believe “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).  The next time you have thoughts of hopelessness or despair, remember that God has “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).  The next time you are tempted to look at the shortcomings in yourself or someone else, choose to look through God’s eyes who sees each of us as “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14).  You get the point.

 

Can you imagine how radically different our lives and the lives of those around us would be if we were to reverse the above numbers and begin to think God’s thoughts more often?  Look out earth, here comes heaven!

 

True and lasting transformation will often not come from the big events in our lives, but from the thousands of little choices we make each day in our thought life.  So, let’s partner with God by thinking on the good, but not the bad and the ugly.