Change Your Thoughts — Ephesians 4:23 (8-25-2008)
Dale Carnegie said, “Remember, happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think.” This is why Paul commands you “to be made new in the attitude of your minds…” (Ephesians 4:23)
There’s no getting past it: transformation begins between your ears. You’ll never see a permanent change in your circumstances until you make a permanent change in your thoughts. The paradox is that when you begin to change the way you think, the status of your situation loses much of its significance. When you begin thinking right, you find that externals aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
Thinking right doesn’t change your circumstances directly. It changes you — it renews you and transforms you — and the indirect result most often is that external conditions change, too. But your first focus must be on what’s going in your mind. What are you thinking about? Norman Vincent Peale said, “Change your thoughts and you’ll change your world.” That’s a secondary outcome. The primary outcome is: Change your thoughts and you’ll change yourself. As Paul said, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” (Romans 12:2)
Where do we start? “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8)
Happiness, satisfaction, contentment, and optimism: these all begin (and end) with being made new in the attitude of your mind.
An ancient proverb says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.” Looking back on the past twenty years of life, it’s easy to see all the trees that should have been planted: we should have invested more, studied more, taken more picnics with the kids, appreciated others more, watched TV less, worried less, laughed more, enjoyed life more, and on and on.