Think About What You Think About

Thoughts. We cannot see them. We cannot buy them. We cannot always predict them. But we cannot deny this about them: They define our lives. Think well, live well. Think poorly, live poorly.

Are your days ever so gloomy? You can change that. Perpetually anxious? Abundant peace is an option. Heavied by regrets? Your past need not define your future. Hounded by inner critics? You can defang those voices in your head. You can tame your thoughts! A new “you” will appear as new thoughts begin to emerge. “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (Proverbs 4:23 GNT).

Search “thought management” on the internet, and you will find a Pacific Ocean of answers—magazine articles, TED Talks, podcasts, blogs, and books. They explore meditation, medication, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Better your brain by running more, eating right, sleeping longer, taking supplements, reading Lucado books. (Who added that last one?)

There’s a lot to wade through. I seek neither to promote nor debunk these treatments. I prefer to focus on three tools, an ancient trio of strategies that I know well, and I know work well. Call them what you wish: Thought management 101. Your mental tool kit. Mental floss. However you tag them, they make a difference—a huge difference.

The Tool Kit

1. Practice Picky Thinking. Guard your thoughts.
2. Identify UFOs. An Untruth (U) creates a False narrative (F) that leads to an Overreaction (O).
3. Uproot and Replant. Weed out your most unhealthy thought patterns and replace them with divine truth.

These tools will empower you to think clearly and rightly. Sometimes all three are needed. At other times just one or two will suffice. Either way, these tools will rescue you from the quicksand of ungovernable thoughts.

With God as your helper, you will discover a new way of thinking.

Prayer

Dear Father, please guide me in using the tools Max presented. Help me know how to guard my thoughts, identify untruths that lead to false narratives and overreactions, weed out unhealthy thoughts, and replace them with your truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.