Change the Way You Think
Sounds easy, huh?
In Mark 1:15 (God’s Word Translation), Jesus said, “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near. Change the way you think and act, and believe the Good News”. I think every Christ follower would like to change his/her behavior. Maybe we would like change our behavior in a general way to be more Christ-like. Or maybe we would like to change our behavior in specific areas, such as anger or forgiveness, etc. Regardless of the behavior we want to change, Jesus tells us that we have to change the way we think before we can change the way we act.
It’s simple and straightforward. However, it can be extremely difficult. For example, I had a bad experience at work. Who hasn’t, right? Nevertheless, this experience was a “Judas” experience. It was particularly nasty, and mistakes were made by everyone. I was mature enough to forgive everyone fairly quickly. However, I still think about the experience occasionally. Then I make myself mad all over again. Now, some people would say, if I really forgave them, would the experience still make me mad? My answer is yes. I don’t think it’s a forgiveness issue. I forgave them once, and every time I get mad about it, I forgive them again. I think the problem lies in the fact that I haven’t changed the way I think about the experience. Basically, I need to re-program my thoughts.
Luckily, there are several ways to spin a bad experience. Firstly, it’s not like I’m the first person to be falsely accused of something. Jesus was falsely accused everywhere he went. Also, I know according to Paul, all things work out for the good of those called to His purpose (Romans 8:28). And if I’m completely honest with myself, I can already see where that bad experience is working out for my good. Furthermore, I know that the Lord will fight for me; all I have to do is be still (Exodus 14:14). So, if I know all of these things, why do I still get mad when I think about the experience? Because I choose to think about the experience instead of choosing to think about all the things I “know”. The key is to be self-aware and to catch myself when I feel those old feelings come up. Then I can remind myself about all the things I know. If I don’t catch myself, then my thoughts will cascade into negativity….again.
Charles Swindoll said that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. How I react is entirely dependent on how I think.