On Tuesday night I attended a youth group devotional at Henderson church of Christ. I enjoyed it immensely and will probably attend them regularly.
What struck me the most was my friend, Jared's devotional. It was about thinking. Now, to be perfectly honest, when he stood up and exclaimed this topic...I was hesitant. I thought, "Oh, another surface level devo for the little high schoolers.
I was wrong. I love it when God shows me that I'm wrong.
Jared talked about the millions of menial thoughts that go through our minds daily. What to wear, the temperature outside, the volume of my alarm, the low gas gauge in my car, the dirt on my tennis shoe............you get the point. There are thoughts going on in our minds that WE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT.
With all of that going on in our heads sometimes we forget to control all of the things we let in our minds. You know the phrase, "Garbage in, garbage out?"....it's so true. How many negative thoughts do we allow in our heads? How much impure, disrespectful, unGodly things do we just let pass into the abyss of our minds? It just piles up like a landfill. Rotting. Decaying. Undoing all of the good that we worked for.
I want to take this to another level. I think a big disservice that we all do to ourselves is not maintaining good mental health practices. We eat right and exercise for bodily health. We study for knowledge. We clean our planet for environmental health.
What about emotional health?
Remember when we were little, and we learned about feelings? That is a good start to emotional health. But after that....it pretty much stops. We never are taught how to handle certain life changes and emotions that overcome us as we grow. We don't learn how to battle negative thoughts about OURSELVES.
So. Do me a big favor. Only think GOOD things. About yourself, about others, about God. Challenge yourself to go through one day without complaining, whining, or being negative. It's a lot harder than it sounds, but it will be a great day. :-)
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8.
Thinking
On Tuesday night I attended a youth group devotional at Henderson church of Christ. I enjoyed it immensely and will probably attend them regularly.
What struck me the most was my friend, Jared's devotional. It was about thinking. Now, to be perfectly honest, when he stood up and exclaimed this topic...I was hesitant. I thought, "Oh, another surface level devo for the little high schoolers.
I was wrong. I love it when God shows me that I'm wrong.
Jared talked about the millions of menial thoughts that go through our minds daily. What to wear, the temperature outside, the volume of my alarm, the low gas gauge in my car, the dirt on my tennis shoe............you get the point. There are thoughts going on in our minds that WE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT.
With all of that going on in our heads sometimes we forget to control all of the things we let in our minds. You know the phrase, "Garbage in, garbage out?"....it's so true. How many negative thoughts do we allow in our heads? How much impure, disrespectful, unGodly things do we just let pass into the abyss of our minds? It just piles up like a landfill. Rotting. Decaying. Undoing all of the good that we worked for.
I want to take this to another level. I think a big disservice that we all do to ourselves is not maintaining good mental health practices. We eat right and exercise for bodily health. We study for knowledge. We clean our planet for environmental health.
What about emotional health?
Remember when we were little, and we learned about feelings? That is a good start to emotional health. But after that....it pretty much stops. We never are taught how to handle certain life changes and emotions that overcome us as we grow. We don't learn how to battle negative thoughts about OURSELVES.
So. Do me a big favor. Only think GOOD things. About yourself, about others, about God. Challenge yourself to go through one day without complaining, whining, or being negative. It's a lot harder than it sounds, but it will be a great day. :-)
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8.
What struck me the most was my friend, Jared's devotional. It was about thinking. Now, to be perfectly honest, when he stood up and exclaimed this topic...I was hesitant. I thought, "Oh, another surface level devo for the little high schoolers.
I was wrong. I love it when God shows me that I'm wrong.
Jared talked about the millions of menial thoughts that go through our minds daily. What to wear, the temperature outside, the volume of my alarm, the low gas gauge in my car, the dirt on my tennis shoe............you get the point. There are thoughts going on in our minds that WE DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT.
With all of that going on in our heads sometimes we forget to control all of the things we let in our minds. You know the phrase, "Garbage in, garbage out?"....it's so true. How many negative thoughts do we allow in our heads? How much impure, disrespectful, unGodly things do we just let pass into the abyss of our minds? It just piles up like a landfill. Rotting. Decaying. Undoing all of the good that we worked for.
I want to take this to another level. I think a big disservice that we all do to ourselves is not maintaining good mental health practices. We eat right and exercise for bodily health. We study for knowledge. We clean our planet for environmental health.
What about emotional health?
Remember when we were little, and we learned about feelings? That is a good start to emotional health. But after that....it pretty much stops. We never are taught how to handle certain life changes and emotions that overcome us as we grow. We don't learn how to battle negative thoughts about OURSELVES.
So. Do me a big favor. Only think GOOD things. About yourself, about others, about God. Challenge yourself to go through one day without complaining, whining, or being negative. It's a lot harder than it sounds, but it will be a great day. :-)
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8.
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