A thought by John Ortberg from his
book, The Me I Want to Be (p. 89).
Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to
buy the book.)
I know, I know that makes sense except in
our inner thoughts.
John says, “Our sense of smell has a
unique power to evoke emotion, and in our inner lives, our feelings are like
aromas. Our positive feelings — joy, pleasure, gratitude — thrill us like the
scent of freshly baked bread. Negative feelings — sadness, worry, anger — can
make us want to evacuate our lives. When they hit, your mood dips, you lose
energy, God seems distant, prayer seems pointless, sin looks tempting, and life
looks bleak.”
He goes on, “But our feelings never
descend on us at random. As a general rule, our emotions flow out of our
thoughts. Discouraged people tend to think discouraging thoughts. Worried
people tend to think anxious thoughts. These thoughts become so automatic that,
like the lingering skunk odor, after a while, we don’t even notice we are
thinking them. We get used to what is sometimes called ‘stinking thinking.’
Romans 12:2 NLT says, “Let God
transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
John says, “Becoming the best version
of yourself, then, rests on one simple directive: Think great thoughts!
People who live great lives are people who habitually think great thoughts.
Their thoughts incline them toward confidence, love, and joy. Trying to change
your emotions by willpower without allowing the stream of your thoughts to be
changed by the flow of the Spirit is like fumigating the house of the skunk
smell while the skunks continue to live in your crawl space. But God can change
the way we think.”
He then says, “It is time to go after
the skunks.”
And that is true, isn't it?
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