The Power of Positive Thinking

Turns out positive thinking isn't just Freudian theory or new-age psycho-babble. Almost 2000 years ago Paul was telling the church at Philippi to think positively. The gist of his letter is finding joy through humility, obedience and perseverance in seeking and following Christ, and he begins his wrap-up with the following words:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:8 NIV

A couple weeks ago I was at Books-A-Million and all of a sudden the book "From Anger to Intimacy: How Forgiveness Can Transform Your Marriage" by Gary Smalley (the love languages guy) and Ted Cunningham caught my attention. Thinking this was God's way of presenting me with a Lenten discipline, I promptly bought it and thought I'd give it a read. Chapter 4 tells us how to take responsibility for our emotions, and in the section directed to those of us who tend to replay our anger (thank heavens they didn't include a picture of me on this page!), the authors quote Paul's advice above and say this:

"...what you rehearse or replay in your mind will eventually seep into your heart as a belief. If you constantly tell yourself that you didn't handle things well, you failed or you're worthless, you will begin to believe it. And if you repeatedly tell yourself that someone else failed or is worthless, you will begin to believe it, which makes forgiveness and reconciliation all the more difficult.
You may be like me and have a tendency to replay conversations years after the fact. What is the one thing you and I can do about that? Hit the Stop button. Stop rewinding. Choose to no longer go back and make up details or events that never happened or were never intended.
Instead of replaying what went wrong or what is wrong in your life, begin following the advice of Paul. Refocus your thinking on the good things."

Let's take this a step further. Last week in Women's Bible Study we focused on worshipping God by learning and praising the various names by which he is known (Healer, Provider, Redeemer, Shepherd, etc.). And isn't God the epitome of truth, nobility, righteousness, purity, loveliness, admirability, excellence and praiseworthiness? It's proven that if we turn our focus to God we naturally turn it away from ourselves, and our thoughts are transformed. So while I'm memorizing eight things to think about, in essence I need only remember one: God.

Stop stewing, start renewing!