WHAT SHAPED YOUR THINKING?

Even in Christian households, not everyone has experienced the complete and forgiving grace of a loving God. When you were a child, perhaps your family moved many times or you had one parent, were raised by someone else or were abandoned. Life seemed crowded with stipulations, or maybe there was no guidance at all. As a child you may have faced bullying, teasing, rejection, ridicule, people cursing you and at you, beatings and unbelievable harshness.   Or the love you received was based on your performance. What you experienced shaped your thinking and now, you often see the world through your child-eyes.

To cope perhaps you pouted, cursed, threw tantrums, hit, bit, beat or spit upon what you didn’t like, withdrew to an imaginary world, acted out and rebelled against whatever you thought was wrong. Just maybe, you got caught up in a gang, over achieving, drugs, excessive drinking and accepted anyone into your life that seemed to fit your needs and thought like you.

Tick tock; time has not stood still. You’re older, thinking the same way and expecting a different outcome.  It’s time to change what you think.

“When I was a child I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man (woman), I put childish ways behind me.” 1Corinthians 13:11 (italics mine). Seems easier said than done.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING:

• Receive God’s unfailing, everlasting love

Psalm 139, John 3:16, John 9:5, John 14:6

• Change what you know, acquire and treasure wisdom

Proverbs 1:2, Proverbs 8, Job 42:2, Psalm 46:10, Psalm 51:6, Psalm 139, Jeremiah 9:23-24, John 8:32, 1John 3:1-3

• Pray/spend time alone with God

Daniel 9: 17-19, Matthew 6:5-13, Matthew 26:36, 1Thessalonians 5:17, James 5:13-16

• Feed your faith and doubt will starve to death/ Bible study

2Timothy 2:15, 2Timothy 3:16, Romans 10:17, Ephesians 2:8

• Seek Christian fellowship/Christian counsel

Psalm1:1, Matthew 18:20, 1John 1:5-7, Galatians 6:1

• Ask the Holy Spirit to help

John 14:15-18, John 16: 5-11

• Ask forgiveness/Forgive yourself and others

2Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 86:5, Matthew 6:12-15, Luke 6:37, Luke 17, 1John1:9-10

• Repent (turn away from…..)

Ezekiel 14:6, Ezekiel 18:30, Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:14-15, Luke 13

• Grow/Mature

Psalm 1, Matthew 13:18-23, John 15:5, Romans 6:5, Ephesians 4:15, 2Peter 3:18

• Let it go/trust God and commit your ways to the Lord

Jeremiah 29:11, Philippians 4:8-9, Philippians 4:13

(resources: www.crosswalk.com, http://www.biblestudytools.com)

WHY CHANGE YOUR THINKING?

As the saying goes, “You are what you eat”. And, you say and do what you think (know). If you know that God is love and full of grace and mercy and that you are created in his image, now is the time to glorify God by bearing fruit (John 15:8, Galatians 5:22-23). You represent the creator. Think about that. (Philippians 4:8)

©2014 Linda Pope