Stop Thinking That

How many of you remember Thumper's line from the movie Bambi?

"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

Our parents, our teachers, our friends have often used this phrase to help us grow. Trouble is, for many of us, living out this phrase is the closest to growth we may ever achieve.

We can think all sorts of ugly things, but as long as we don't say it, we are good.

Please hear me when I say, do not settle for this type of good.

In Philippians 4:8 it says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

It matters what we say, but we shouldn't focus only on the words we vocalize.

Rather, we need to focus on the source of where those words came from.

We shouldn't just try and change what comes out of our mouth. The answer is to allow God to change what is in our heart, the source.

Yet for many of us, the best we have hoped for, is a measure of success in not letting our ugly thoughts slip out.

God has promised us more than that.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ."

In some translations it says, "... take every thought captive, and make it obey Christ."

We need to be assessing and looking for change in our thoughts, not just our words.

When an ugly thought comes up, we shouldn't simply say, "I better not say that."

Rather, we should respond with, "God change my way of thinking, so that type of thought is no longer in me."

It takes more work to allow God to make these types of changes in us, but the end result is long lasting, instead of momentary.

When God changes the way we think, it is a long term change. When we keep an ugly thought from slipping out, that only saves us in that one moment.

Let's choose to focus on allowing God to change our thoughts, and we will find our mouths require much less attention.