If you have
read my book Mind Change you know how
strongly I believe in the importance of replacing the wrong thoughts with the
right ones. Thoughts are powerful. Words and concepts lodged in our brain make
a difference. But there is a passage in the New Testament book of Hebrews that
reminds us that thoughts and words are not enough.
The passage
from Hebrews 4:2 reads like this: “For
we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message
they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it
with faith.”
If you are a
person seeking to have the right thoughts and want to set your mind on
spiritual truth, you are quite different from the rebellious people described in
this text. But there is a principle here for all of us. Even right thoughts
will have no real value unless we combine them with faith.
As I point
out in the book, the biblical concept of a mind change is not another form of
self-help. It is not a positive-thinking philosophy. A true biblical mind
change must involve locking on to some truth from God and then combining that focus with faith.
Learning to
say “This is hard, but God…” may become just another effort to trick your
emotions unless behind that statement is a faith—a conviction—that your God is
bigger than what is hard and that you will trust him.
Wrong
thinking will always lead to a bad result, but right thinking must be more than
an intellectual exercise. The right thoughts must be energized with faith or
else, they, too, will fall flat.
This is hard, but God is bigger... and I trust him. Thanks so much for this reminder about faith, Tom! I don't comment much because of computer issues, but I really look forward to and appreciate your (& Sheila's) mind change moments! - Cathy Freiberger
ReplyDeleteThe mind is such a hard thing to take control of. It's so easy to tell someone else, trust God. I need to heed that advise. Thank you for your honesty. Taking those thoughts captive is a full time job.
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