HEALTHY THINKING AND THOUGHTS

“…FIX YOUR THOUGHTS on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable…” – Philippians 4:8a (NLT)

Another vital complement to the Covenants of Health and Healing relates to HEALTHY THINKING and THOUGHTS: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. FIX YOUR THOUGHTS on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Phil.4:8, New Living Translation). The spiritual exercise of healthy thinking is all important in living a healthy life. The more effective we can be at thinking as Paul admonished, the more likely we’ll live a full, fulfilling, and healthy life. In line with Philippians 4:8, someone coined the beautiful acronym for T-H-I-N-K as: T – Is it True? H – Is it Honest? I – Is it Inspiring? N – Is it Necessary? K – Is it Kind?

Our thoughts have far-reaching influence on how we experience life: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” (Pro.23:7a). Specifically, there is a strong connection between thoughts and health. Researches have confirmed that negative thoughts, and the associated harmful chemicals, have detrimental effects on health. We can make significant changes in our life, and in many cases, to our health, by changing the way we think. We cannot fully appropriate the Covenants of Health and Healing, while allowing wrong thoughts to fill, dominate or rule our minds.

God is interested in the contents and quality of our thoughts: “The THOUGHTS of the righteous are right; but the counsels of the wicked are deceit” (Pro.12:5). Some thoughts can boost, stimulate, and sustain health. Others hamper health and hinder well-being. The human mind is a filter for what comes into the body through the five senses. The less “junk” information that we are exposed to the less stressed our mind would be in dealing with such. We are therefore counselled to have our minds transformed by renewal in God’s Word, that we may know and do His good, perfect and acceptable will (Rom.12:2). This means to not copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform us by changing the way we think.

Changing our thinking patterns involves receiving Grace: to make a deliberate decision for change; to monitor these patterns and identify negative thoughts evident in harmful emotions; and to commit concerted and consistent effort to hearing or reading, studying, and meditating in the scriptures in order to replace the negative with positive thoughts. We can identify scriptures that are meaningful to us and create personal affirmations to declare out loud. When reading and meditating on scripture become part of our daily diet, we’ll see a change in our thinking patterns, and commensurate lifting in health.

The believer is at war with evil forces and the primary battlefield is in our minds (2Cor.10:4-6). The enemy wants to keep us focused on the negative in order to steal our joy and health. God desires us to be filled with joy, peace, and love. Perhaps you’re experiencing an ongoing struggle with a certain memory that brings you emotional pain, sorrow, anger or anguish, prayerfully and humbly ask the Lord to help you forgive yourself or the other person. You can also seek godly counsel and prayers of deliverance to uproot demonic strongholds (Eph.6:10-12). Having dealt with the harmful emotions and their roots, deliberately replace thinking about those situations with positive scriptural thoughts.

Our thoughts go far in determining our destiny, and in promoting or impeding health. They can cause more trouble or good, and more pain or profit. Wise persons learn to rule their thoughts. James Allen, in ‘As a Man Thinketh’ said: “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you”! Many try to create positive feelings from nothing; but it is when you THINK Positive, you’ll TALK Positive, and FEEL Positive. Your mind is like a garden; your thoughts like the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds. Like training the muscles of your body to be physically fit, you can feed your mind with healthy thoughts, and have it transformed to think right for a wholesome life.