I’m a practical girl.
My dad raised me to employ common sense.
He taught me we create our results in life.
If something wasn’t working smoothly, he created a solution and implemented it.
I love this.
I take after my dad.
But, I’m also deeply spiritual.
My mom raised me to seek God.
She taught me to read His truth and seek Him in prayer.
I learned that I am not in control of much, and God is in control of everything.
She showed me how to worship, love, and honor Him.
She taught me to get on my knees and turn to Him when I could not find a solution.
I love this.
I take after my mom.
My mom and my dad are two very different people, yet I take after them both.
I carry my faith and my practicality into all I do.
These principals are what drives my desire to help Christian women find practical solutions when they feel stuck or unhappy or incomplete or discouraged.
It’s both my friends.
The solution to all our problems… all of them… is relationship with Jesus AND practical ways to renew our minds and transform our lives.
I read my Bible every day. (More accurately, most days.) I pray. I look to God for direction in all I do.
And, I embrace the power of my mind and thoughts and take responsibility for what goes on in my brain.
These are the ways we grow in maturity, emotional and intellectual, seeking all of God’s wisdom and truth, and learning how to experience it in a practical way.
Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, tells us in his letter to the Philippians that he has learned to be content regardless of the circumstances. He learned the secret of experiencing God’s peace in every situation.
How?
He experiences the peace that surpasses all understanding by managing his thoughts.
Whatever is good, whatever is true, whatever is pure, admirable, lovely and excellent… think on these things.
It is the skill of managing thoughts that has changed my life like nothing else. I take ownership of my thoughts.
Once we take ownership for our thoughts, we can take the next, crucial step–directing our thoughts.
I’m not just talking about the main concept thoughts. In fact, I’m mostly talking about the sneaky, subtle thoughts that we dismiss as harmless truths. The thoughts we pay little attention to that we think we need not question.
But question we should.
The only truth that exists is God’s. The rest is up for interpretation. And us humans like to interpret things as problems or negative more often that we think. Don’t believe me? Start watching your thoughts like a spectator and you will be amazed.
Our thoughts are all optional. Too often we chose to let the negative ones stay and don’t even bother to choose what we think.
Our brain is powerful. We don’t need to let it run itself. We can take charge of our brains by igniting our ability to examine, evaluate, choose, and manage our thoughts.
And from managing our thoughts, we can even learn to intentionally feel and manage our emotions, good and bad. Once you learn to do this, look out, anything is possible.
Managing our thoughts is how we renew our minds.
In this, we learn to manifest God’s promises in our lives.
In this, a Christian who feels miserable finally learns how to harness joy in all circumstances.
In this, we learn to love, accept, and appreciate ourselves as God does.
As Christians, we have a plethora of people teaching us God’s word, how to pray, how to act and behave, and what to do. I know you know so much about these things. What many of us are missing, what I was missing for 40 years, was how to grab hold of God’s promises through the renewing of our thoughts and minds.
Through this practice, after an entire life of loving Jesus and still struggling, my depression has left, my anxiety rarely appears, my relationships are better, I feel joy regardless of my circumstances, and so much more.
This has been the key to my discovery of daily hope, healing, and happiness. I just keep feeling better every day.
Wanna get started on managing your thoughts and feeing better? Get your Free 3 Step Guide to stopping the negative self-talk in your brain here.
If you like this article, check out I’m a Christian but I’m Still Not Happy.
