Is overcoming negative thoughts possible? Our thoughts are like stinkin’ thinkin’. They are so negative that if someone could smell them, they would smell, much like dirty socks or yesterday’s trash.
Why are our thoughts that way and how do end up there? Yet, our thoughts don’t need to be that way. There are five reasons why stinky thoughts come to our minds and there are seven strategies for overcoming negative thoughts.
Stinkin Thinkin: Reasons Why Negative Thoughts Come to Mind
1. Pride Results in Negative Thoughts
God does not like pride. Why? Because the person is putting themselves above Him.
Is all pride bad? No. There is pride in your children or other loved ones that you cheer them on for their accomplishments. But it is what we do with that pride that can hurt us. Do we brag to others and yell it to the mountain tops? When we act with pride that puffs us up or puffs others up to impress those around us, then that pride is bad. It sows thoughts within us of superiority.
One consequence of pride is thoughts are scattered. The proud take counsel in their own hearts. And they try to establish themselves as magnificent. God sees this and confuses and humbles the proud.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
Luke 1:51 ESV
3. Deception Can Bring on Negative Thinking
These people who are prideful deceive themselves into thinking they are something when they are not (Galatians 6:3 ESV).
Eve is a great example of this. Yes, she was deceived by the snake, aka Satan, the great deceiver. He tempted her with the desire to be important like God. And that knowledge of good and evil would make her higher than God. Eve saw the potential for this greatness and how it could delight her. And then she desired to be wise.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and she ate.
Genesis 3:6 ESV
Notice the progression. She saw the tree was good for food, that it brought delight to her eyes, and then she desired. Be careful about what you take into your brain through your eyes. Seeing things brings in thoughts that lead to desires that are not right for us who believe. We need to keep negative thoughts from our minds.
3. Evil Thoughts
Thoughts come from the condition of our hearts. If our heart is evil, then we have evil thoughts and all other types of sin.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Matthew 15:19 ESV
4. Fear Causes Negative Thoughts
The brain records all our activities and remembers fearful situations so we will respond in fear. When we have certain fear triggers come, our body begins to respond with fear. This is a natural response to fear (i.e. being chased by a bear and knowing you need to run).
However, there are times when we let the fear take over and our minds race. This is when there is an absence of faith.
5. Lack of Faith
Jesus and the disciples were out in a boat on the sea. A fierce storm came up and Jesus was asleep in the boat. They woke him exclaiming that they needed to be saved because they were going to die.
26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”
Matthew 8:26a ESV
But after asking why they were afraid and lacked faith, Jesus called off the storm and they were sailing on a calm sea. The men were awestruck that even the elements of the weather obeyed Jesus.
They had seen Jesus do miracles so they should have been at ease that He was in the boat with them. Yet their memories were short. And ours are too. How many times has God provided for our needs or shown up in a powerful way and yet we forget and are fearful of the things or circumstances in our lives?
7 Strategies to Overcoming Negative Thoughts
1. Protect your Eyes
In the story of Eve’s deception above, she saw that tree was good for eating. Then the desires progressed from there. It all started with what she saw. We need to guard what our eyes see. There are movies and shows that are on television or streaming services that have content that is evil. It will affect how we think. Paul told the Corinthians that we need to think like mature adults and not infants or children.
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
1 Corinthians 14:20 ESV
2. Accentuate the Positive
There is a saying when you look at a glass that is filled halfway up, do you think of it as being half-full or half-empty? One viewpoint looks at the glass in a positive way and the other looks at it negatively.
This saying is said to determine how you look at life. Do you choose to look at the world in a negative view and all you can see are the troubles you are going through? Or do you choose to look at the ways that God showed up for you in your day or continues to provide for you?
Paul told us that our thoughts should be positive and make them prominent in our life. They should be right, pure, true, honorable, and lovely.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8 ESV
When we choose to think this way, negative thoughts don’t have a chance!
3. Guard our Hearts
Out of our hearts come either good or evil. If we choose to follow up on the evil thoughts, there are consequences that will follow.
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23 ESV
The Hebrew word for heart is leb. This word is translated as the “inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.” Whether it is our heart or our mind, we need to guard it. Our life is impacted by what we put into them. We can have lives that flow like a fresh spring or water. Or it can be polluted or dammed up by rocks, trees, and tons of branches. The choice is up to us.
4. Take Thoughts Captive
When we walk in obedience to God, we learn that we need to take charge of our thoughts. We need to make them captives and submit them to the obedience of Christ.
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV
When I am having a day where my mind is taken over by negative thoughts, I pray and ask God to take those thoughts captive to obey Christ.
5. Focus on Gratefulness
When we choose to focus on gratefulness, this will reduce our stress and we will be content. This is why in the letter to the Thessalonians, Paul, Timothy, and Silvanus told them to
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
They tell us that following these commands is God’s Will for us. He knows exactly what we need – joy, thankfulness, and time spent in His presence. When we do that, we reap the benefits of being content.
6. Walk in the Ways of God’s Word
The Psalmist promised that he would follow God’s Word. So he thought about the ways of his life and how he was living and turned his feet back to what he had learned.
When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies;
Psalm 119:59 ESV
When we choose to be obedient to God and follow His ways of living, we need to keep walking according to God’s commands. We need to do a self-check and think about how we are living. If it is not according to what God’s Word says, we need to do a course correction. Keep spending time in God’s Word so you can keep those negative thoughts at bay.
7. Be Mature Thinkers: Forget the Past and Look Ahead
The last strategy to overcoming negative thoughts is to forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead (Philippians 3:13-14). This helps us to quit bringing up the failures, hurts, or disappointments of the past. Living in the past and not letting all that stuff go causes a person to be depressed. Instead, we need to let that go. Forgive and forget who has hurt you and move on.
Instead, we need to look forward to the day that we as believers will be in Heaven with God. this is where there will be no pain, deceit, sorrow, or any kind of evil.
When we choose to think this way, Paul calls this mature thinking.
Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
Philippians 3:15 ESV
When we choose to look ahead in anticipation of what God can do in the circumstance, we focus on the positive and look for the ways that God’s power is at work!
Overcoming Negative Thoughts
Overcoming negative thoughts is possible by implementing these seven strategies. What strategy will you work on this week?
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May the Lord Almighty change individuals for a better World of True Believers. JESUS IS REAL ,I BELIEVE 100% IN WHAT AM SAYING.
Amen!
Good advice from God’s word Thank-You Amen
You are welcome! Thank you, Annette, for your kind words.
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