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“Our thought patterns become as habitual as brushing our teeth.”

A thought by John Ortberg from his book, The Me I Want to Be (p. 91). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Ok, you don’t have the habit of brushing your teeth, but you get the point, don’t you?

If not, here it is, John says, “After a while, we don’t even think about them. We get so used to bitter thoughts or anxious thoughts or selfish thoughts that we don’t even notice what we are thinking about.

“One of the great barriers to a flourishing mind is sometimes called mindlessness. My body is at the breakfast table with my family, but my mind isn’t. It is ruminating over my problems — a repetitive, anxious, dull, low-grade obsession with tasks and problems. I am absentminded; my mind has gone AWOL. Other people can tell I am not fully present because my face is less alive and responsive. I talk less, and when I do say something, it is superficial and terse. I don’t do this on purpose. It simply becomes a habit of my mind.”

He goes on, “The spiritual life begins with paying attention to our thoughts, which is why the psalmist prayed, ‘Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.’ (Psalm 139:23) God knows our thoughts better than we do, and he will help us learn what is going on in our mind from one moment to the next.

“As I monitor my mind, I will encounter many thoughts that are unwelcome visitors: I get anxious. I catastrophize. I envy. But I will also begin to recognize what kind of thoughts the Spirit flows in. The apostle Paul gives us a great framework for understanding which are the thoughts and attitudes that come from the Spirit. He writes, ‘The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.’ (Romans 8:6)”

John then says, “Take any thought, especially thoughts that feel weighty or that you find yourself turning over and over in your mind, and ask, What direction do those thoughts lead me in? Are they leading me toward life — toward God’s best version of me? Or in the other direction?”

Good questions, Right?

Yes, yes!
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