CHRISTIAN LIFE & GROWTH

Clearing your Mind

Banishing Bad Memories and Sinful Thoughts

By Dr. Ron Tardif (D.Div. C.C.)

Do you have thought problems? Most people I know do. If it is not about hatred for someone and how they are affecting your life (or "destroyed it," so you may think), it's about outside influences like porn or magazines, or maybe your neighbor or a co-worker who fills your mind for hours at a time, when you should be thinking on your own priorities, like your spouse, children, your job, or your ministry that you are supposed to focused upon.

Maybe you worry about your future or the future of your country. That would of course affect the future of your children or grandchildren and their living conditions. Do you worry about your kids? Your church? The fact that some people you love don't go to church? Are you concerned of what others think of you? How you look, or think, or talk? Maybe you know someone who is mad at God. Do you worry about their salvation? Do you worry about your salvation?

The Bible has a lot to say about controlling your thoughts. You may have heard, "you are what you eat." Well the same can be said about your mind: "you are what you think you are." If you eat junk food, you feel like junk. If you think on bad stuff, you feel like bad stuff all over! It is a lot easier to stay away from food that makes you feel like junk than to stay away from thinking junky thoughts. Some, as you know, can't stay on a diet to save (literally in some cases) their lives. Thought control can be a lot harder, if you try it on your own. Good news! If you do it God's way, you can be successful. Actually, if you do what God tells you to do, you will be successful. God never fails. And, bonus alert: If you think of what God wants you to think upon, you will have His peace! This is a promise from God.

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT

There are tons of other passages that support this verse — Matthew 6:25-34, 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22, and Proverbs 16:3 are but a few. God has made you a promise. Actually, in the context of Philippians, He has given you multiple promises that if you obey Him and do as He commands, you will have peace. That's not opinion; it's a promise from God, your Creator!

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7 [Emphasis added]

He knows you better than you can possibly know yourself. He created you and knows what is best for you. He knows your struggles and successes. He knows what you are capable of doing, both good and bad. In spite of all that, He still loves you!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Mind boggling isn't it? And He knows what you need. Not only that, He promises to never give you more than you can handle and that with every trial that He allows your way, He will give you a way out of that trial.

No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NET)

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Published on 4-4-17