by Capazin Thornton

 

Renew your mind every day on God’s Word

Want to develop and maintain a positive attitude? Start to renew your mind every day on God’s Word.

Read, study, recite, and listen to God’s Word as often as you can every day. God’s Word is spiritual food designed to sustain and strengthen you. The more of God’s Word you retain and apply to your life, the stronger you will become.

God’s Word will enable you to cheerfully persevere through all of life’s battles.

Hold your thoughts and words up to God’s checklist

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. ~Phil 4:8

Philippians 4:8 provides a checklist of characteristics for right thinking, which applies equally to right speaking:     

1.	True	accurate, genuine [not assumptions, half-truths or hearsay]
2.	Noble	honorable, befitting kings and queens
3.	Just	right
4.	Pure	clean, uncontaminated, clear
5.	Lovely	friendly towards, delightful
6.	A good report	pleasant [never bad reports, gossip, rumors]
7.	Virtuous	excellent, having great moral value
8.	Praiseworthy	worthy of praise, thoughts that glorify God

Remember, this is a checklist, not a smorgasbord. We do not get to pick and choose one or two favorite characteristics while ignoring the rest. Go through the whole list point by point to see if the things you think about (and say) pass all eight characteristics.

Think on God’s goodness, love, and grace

Don Moen wrote a beautiful melodic song, which words are these:

“Think about His love

Think about His goodness

Think about His grace that’s brought us through

For as high as the heavens above

So great is the measure of our Father’s love

Great is the measure of our Father’s love.”

This is a simple yet powerful song that focuses on God’s goodness, love and grace—things that are indeed true, noble, just, pure, lovely, a good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, things on which we can renew our minds.

Expect a change

As you renew your mind every day on God’s Word and develop a habit of thinking only on things that pass God’s thought checklist, changes begin to take place in your life. Focus, clarity, strength, and soundness of mind come. Before long, your entire way of thinking, communicating, and acting will change to the positive.

 

Excerpts from the author’s book 10 Keys for Living in Victory Every Day.

Capazin Thornton is a Christian speaker and author based in Orange County, California.