Is your mind filled with worry, anxiety, fear, or negativity?
What you think about affects you more than you may realize. Every behavior and action started with a thought first. Thoughts become behaviors and behaviors become actions. Perhaps you may not realize that you can choose what you think about, and train your brain to think better.
Thoughts that are toxic need to be drained or removed and replaced with thoughts that are lovely, a good report, praiseworthy and peaceful.
We are not to empty our minds and be passive, but we are to fill our minds with those things that are listed in Philippians 4:8:
Thoughts that are:
Honorable and worthy of respect
Whatever is right and confirmed by God’s Word
Whatever is pure and wholesome
Whatever is lovely and brings peace
Whatever is admirable and of good report
Anything excellent, worthy of praise
Think continually about these things.
Practicing Philippians 4:8 can be difficult if not impossible if we have a worried, anxious, and fearful mind.
However we can apply and practice daily or as often as needed Philippians 4:6, and as we do this then thinking about those things that are peaceful, lovely, and praiseworthy will be easier.
Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving continue to make your specific requests known to God.
Verse 7 goes on to say:
And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding [that peace which stands guards over your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ [is yours].
To be able to give your mind a mental vacation, the first step is to give your worries and anxieties to God, to pray and petition God for His help and give thanksgiving that He will intercede. The next step is to focus and fill your mind continually on those things that are found in Philippians 4:6.
Counselor’s Tip: Write out Philippians 4:6 on a notecard and place it where you can see it so that you can remind yourself what you are to think about.
Repeat these steps daily and as often as you need to take a mental vacation from worry, anxiety, and fear.
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