Committed Thoughts: Choosing Those Thoughts

It all starts with a thought, both failure and success. Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, and habits, a lifestyle. We are going to have uninvited thoughts…and if you are like me, lots and lots of them. It is our choice what we do with our thoughts; we can choose to arrest thoughts that are detrimental to our mental and physical health, such as thinking we are insignificant or unloved.

We can’t ever let the actions of others make us feel like we don’t matter. We also have to accept the fact that there are times when we don’t matter to a particular person, and when that time is realized, it is time to make changes in more than just our thoughts.

No, I’m not telling you to get a divorce if you are having marital problems. I am also not telling you to stay in an abusive situation. But there are things you can do to help yourself even in bad situations, and one of the first things to do is not let yourself believe you are worthless because someone may be telling you that. You are worth much! Just ask Jesus, He’ll tell you!

However, I am telling you not to marry that person who doesn’t treat you with love and respect.  Run away as fast as you can!  If he or she hits or shoves you, or is mentally abusive, don't stay there.  I wrote about domestic violence here.  (I have had the hardest time getting this link to work correctly!)

Success involves choices. More directly, it involves making the right choices. I know that the right choices are often the hardest choices, but when the temptation has passed, the joy for choosing correctly far outweighs the fleeting pleasure that comes from giving into the temptation. And there’s no guilt, no self-loathing, no wallowing in hopelessness and discouragement after the fact.

I used to think my problem was food. It’s not. My problem is me. I have quit begging Jesus to free me from an obsession of food, and have come to know that He is my freedom. All that the Bible says is true, and if He sets me free, I am free, indeed. If I am not walking in freedom, it’s because I’m not close enough to the source. And He is so much more than just the source. He is…my everything.

This is a poem I wrote some years ago. I’ve tweaked it over the years, but if we want true liberation from whatever chains have us bound, we must recognize Him as our all in all.

My All in All

He’s my Teacher when I ask for wisdom,

Crying out in an unashamed voice, 

My Forgiver when I’m off my knees,

And knowingly make a wrong choice.

Patient endower of knowledge, 

While in ignorance I seek to know,

As I grasp, at times rather blindly,

Trying to learn what He’s trying to show.

He’s my Defender when I need protection,

My Freedom when in chains I’m bound,

An ever present, calming deliverer,

When my bonds have kept me down.

He picks me up and helps me stand

When finally I submit;

A solid Rock to place my feet 

When He pulls me from my pit.

He’s my loving Lord, the giver of grace,

My strong and mighty tower.

Ready Redeemer who rescues me,

Protecting me with His power.

Heavenly Father, who is my rest;

Counselor to ease my mind

He’s both Lamb and Lion, the Great I Am,

My all in all combined.

The above poem I have reworked several times because I never
could get the last verse to say what I wanted it to say.
I may just leave it as this: