Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor. 15:58

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Friday, September 14, 2012

Taming the Tongue and Stinkin' Thinkin' by Jan



 
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14 (NKJV)

Oh, boy! When the Bible starts talking about the mouth and our thoughts, I start to squirm. This has always been an area of challenge for me. Am I the only one?

I'm doing much better these days with thinking before I speak and with not dwelling on things that are not good to think about, but not so long ago this was a real struggle for me.

God had a way of breaking me, though…not a fun way, but a very effective way. Every time I would talk about someone behind their back, He made sure it got back to them! It was embarrassing, messed up relationships and required eating huge amounts of humble pie, which tastes horrible, by the way.

As for my thought life - I'm still working on that one. I have to be careful not to dwell on negative thoughts because they directly affect my moods.

I am happy to say that I've conquered the "arguing with other people in my head" syndrome, though. Do you ever do that? Have a fight with someone in your head, providing the dialogue for both parties and by the end of it all you're really mad at the person you had an imaginary fight with?

No? Just me, then - but, thankfully, that one's under control.

Prayer:
Father, help me to remember that my thought life should reflect my spiritual life and that if I find my thoughts are out of line, I need to seek you more, read more of your word and ask you to renew my mind. The words of my mouth will follow what's stored up in my heart, so if I get one right, the other will take care of itself. Thank you for loving me even when my words and my thoughts are not what they should be and thank you for grace that forgives. Amen

~by Jan Christiansen

5 comments:

  1. Jan~This wonderful post is such confirmation for me today!!! God has been dealing with me on om my "mouth" Joyce Myers preached a sermon last week and she made the statement God had told her " Joyce you are saved, now let's get your mouth saved too!!" Boy did that strike a cord with me!!
    Thank you for your honesty as I too have those "arguing with people in my head" times and I can admit, my moods are effected by my thoughts! Yes, I am still a work in progress ~sigh~
    Great word my friend!!!
    Many blessings to you!!
    Stacey

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  2. Oh, Stacey, you have no idea what a struggle this can be for me at times. After this posted yesterday I had one of those mental sparring days at work. For hours I'd catch myself "fighting" with someone in my head. I'd admonish myself, then start mentally singing or quoting scripture.

    Next thing you know, I'd be doing it all over again. I got really frustrated. It went something like this...

    Me: "God, I just posted about how I need to quit entertaining stinkin' thinkin'. I need to fill my head with good thoughts, not bad ones. Why am I struggling with this so much today? Seriously, God, how can I post about it and advise others against it when I'm doing it myself?"

    God: "Jan...I want to help you get past this. That is what you want, right? So, now that you're in a full-blown stinkin' thinkin' episode, why don't you just stop and think about WHY you do this. Think about what's REALLY bothering you. The bottom line. Is it the other person's behavior? Or is it how it makes you feel?"

    Me: "But they keep breaking the rules."

    God: "You're a real stickler for rules, aren't you, Jan."

    Jan: "Well, yeah...people should follow the guidelines laid out by the administration."

    God: "And do you always follow the guidelines?"

    Me: "Well, I try to.....maybe not always."

    God: "Hmmmm...."

    I hate when He says that...hmmmm...sort of like He wants me to think about this for a while. Sigh!

    God: "And does their not following the guidelines affect your work?"

    Me: "Well, it could make me late on getting jobs put out."

    God: "It could, but has it?"

    Me: "No, but it could and they shouldn't put that kind of pressure on me."

    God: "And how does that make you feel, Jan?"

    Me: "Feel? Uh...ummmm...errrr - well, it makes me feel like they don't respect me."

    God: "So, this is really all about YOU?"

    Oh, man...I hate when God "bottom lines" it.

    Like I said...I haven't quite overcome this one yet.

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    Replies
    1. Ohhhhhhhh double snap!! I am in the middle of one of my own mind wars right now!!! And this being AFTER I watched several Joyce Myers sermons yesterday on "Containing our words" and AFTER a fantastic worship service yeaterday!!! GEEZZZZ LOUISE!!!!

      Time to press in more to my Heavenly Father :)
      I will not quit, I tell ya...I just won't do it :)))

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  3. It seems like everytime I read or post something thats when I start going through the same thing. Been reading Joel Osteen's Everyday a Friday...I decided I was going to be HAPPY!!!!!!!! That lasted all of one day lol.....But I'll just keep on trying....... I'm too stubborn to quit....

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