Your Life Is Shaped
By Your Thoughts (Pastor Rick Warren)
Disclaimer: This piece was originally written by Pastor Rick Warren. I
have just edited a few things.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for
out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs
4:23 KJV).
In this
context, the author of the book of Proverbs is referring to the mind as the
'heart' and the 'issues of life' as the circumstances and things that happen to
us. God is instructing us keep our minds with diligence, with careful and
persistent work or effort because of what comes from it. God wants us to change
our mind, and in doing so, we then change our lives.
He wants to work on you, because transformation won’t happen in your
life until you renew your mind, until your thoughts begin to change.
Now you may ask, why is it so important that you learn how to manage
your mind? Let me give you three reasons.
1. Manage your mind, because your
thoughts control your life.
Your thoughts have tremendous ability to shape your life for good or for
bad. For example, maybe you accept the thought someone told you when you were
growing up, “You’re worthless. You don’t matter.” If you accepted that thought,
even though it was wrong, it shaped your life.
2. Manage your mind, because the mind
is the battleground for sin.
All temptation happens in the mind. Paul says in Romans 7:22-23, “I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but
there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with
my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within
me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself
still enslaved to sin” (TLB).
One of the reasons why you get mentally fatigued is because there’s a
battle in your brain 24 hours a day. It’s debilitating because it’s intense,
and it’s intense because your mind is your greatest asset. Satan wants your
greatest asset!
3. Manage your mind, because it’s the
key to peace and happiness.
An unmanaged mind leads to tension. A managed mind leads to tranquility.
An unmanaged mind leads to conflict. A managed mind leads to confidence. An
unmanaged mind leads to stress. When you don’t try to control your mind and the
way you direct your thoughts, you will have an enormous amount of stress in
your life. But a managed mind leads to strength and security and serenity.
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6 KJV) It all comes back to who you choose to allow to be the Captain of your life - whether it be Jesus, or Satan. Simply put, if you
let your sinful nature, under the leadership of Satan, control your mind, it will only lead you to death. But
if you let Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to control your mind,
He will lead you to life and peace.
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