Mind Games | Making Change | Fix Your Thoughts

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Philippians 4:8

“I’m just so angry all the time and I don’t know why,” Kent said. Abel leaned on his golf club and studied his friend. “What are you so worked up about?” Kent kicked at a golf ball, “Everything’s changing. I hate how the Muslims are taking over our country and those liberals up north are stealing our rights. Washington is a joke and you can’t even trust police anymore.” Abel nodded. “Yeah, lots of hostility in the air. What are you listening to?” Kent sighed. “Oh, I keep the news on most of the time, scroll through status updates, and listen to talk radio. Gotta stay informed, you know?” Abel frowned and picked up a ball. “Being informed is fine, but how is that helping anything? Half of it is not even real, is being informed worth losing your mind?”

Our nation is manufacturing stress like it’s our gross national product. Gone are the days when we tuned in for 30 minutes of news and then shut off the flow of information to focus on our real lives. With technology bringing the entire world to our fingertips, it’s impossible to avoid overexposure to sensationalized propaganda. Most of it we can do nothing about, so it eats away at our souls. God’s solution for this emotional acid is to intentionally redirect our thoughts. We need to carefully weigh the value of the information coming in. We need to shut it down when it does not support our emotional well-being. Rather than absorbing the thoughts and attitudes of others, God says, “Fix your thoughts on all that is good and right.” 

Final Thought:  Are you allowing the tensions of our broken world to dominate your thoughts? Fix them on what is good.

Prayer: Lord, I’m a lot like Kent. I feel angry inside at all the craziness going on and it affects my mood and my happiness. Help me learn how to shut off this constant stream of information so I can fix my thoughts on you. In Jesus’ name, amen.