Philippians 4:8 “Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is [gracious and winsome] and of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things [fix your mind on these things]. 

Let’s bring this down to something simple as an example: Here’s a fact – you ate a bowl of ice cream. It’s a fact, right? No argument. But then you start thinking you are disgusting because you ate the bowl of ice cream, or you believe you will never lose weight because you can’t control yourself around ice cream and sweets. A belief is just a repeated thought, so if you walk around telling yourself things like, I’ll never be able to stop eating sweets, I’m not good enough, will never be thin enough, successful enough, happy enough, …….you begin to believe those things. We cannot always control what thoughts pop into our mind, but you CAN choose whether or not you will dwell on those thoughts and speak them. It’s kind of tricky at first because most of us aren’t even aware of our thoughts. Why? Because we are so used to believing everything we think!  

 

How do you start to change? Begin to question your thoughts. If they do not match every one of the categories in Philippians 4:8, practice stopping the thought! If you want to get over feelings of doubt and despair, this is the place to start. Your feelings come from your thoughts and your words. Remember – the words you speak and dwell on will either put you over in life or hold you in bondage. 

“Bring every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ.” “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord.”