Feelings and Thoughts

Feelings and Thoughts Always Go Together

“What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7: 20-23 NIV

“Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts.” Soren Kierkegaard

I’ve been taking classes about the writers of the Constitution and one thing is sure, human nature is flawed and determined to be so to its ruin. The founders’ observations were humans’ passions take over without reason or time for thought. Without care for the country, ambition and deception run rampant. This was constantly on the minds of our flawed founders when creating our government: Human nature. Human nature is passionate but without reason and reflection, we repeat history. The Bible and the histories of all nations prove this.  Without God, a Higher purpose, self-government is a pipe dream. These classes, on the one hand, are teaching me how painfully and thoughtfully our nation was forged and on the other, how painfully and with great difficulty we have been saved.

Dominant thoughts. “As a man thinks, so is he,” the Proverb says. Enter feelings of passion without reason and all kinds of chaos results. Haven’t we regretted a sarcastic remark or unkind behavior? It started with our dominant thought and impulse was the result. Was someone helpful or kind to you? It started with their dominant thought. Addictions prove to be crushing dominant thoughts.

Thoughts come first. If I want to change how I feel, I must change what I think. Paul encourages us to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable and we know how hard his life and missions were! There are plenty of good things if we just look. When I take my dog, “the Furminator,” for a walk and I inhale the autumn scents and take in the beauty, my heart is full and thankful. When I stub my toe on the walk, I automatically think I’m a klutz and hope no one sees me. Again, thoughts. Bad thoughts come so easily! Good thoughts take practice and focus.

Musings

Seems so simple. It is and yet so difficult to corral our thoughts to focus on higher and eternal things, especially when hurting, stressed, jealous or ashamed. To change our lives we must change our thoughts. It’s work. It’s downright frustrating at times. It doesn’t mean we suppress or deny our feelings because they are telling us something important but let’s not live there. There is so much to be grateful for. Gratefulness, whether the feeling is there or not, brings a peaceful and full life.

Prayer

Dear Father,

Your Son demonstrated perfect control of His thoughts and feelings. From the Pharisees testing Him and plotting against him to the passion of the Cross, His whole being was focused on You and us. His concern for his mother and the thief on the cross while in great pain that dark day is our example.

We thank You for our feelings because they make us fully alive, draw us closer to You, and enrich our being.

Amen.