OUR THOUGHTS AND BELIEFS PROFOUNDLY MATTER

Our thoughts and beliefs (TBs) matter, but so too do our feelings and experiences (FEs). However, any lasting impact of our FEs depends upon our TBs and interpretations we place upon our experiences.

Initially, I might feel very gladdened and warmed that my neighbor had given me an apple pie that she had just baked. However, in reflection, I might interpret this act as an act of love by someone who cares about me or as a manipulative tactic to get something she wants from me. Consequently, our TBs are all-important.

You might counter that our FEs are of equal importance, because they too affect our TBs. While this might be true, we have far more influence upon our TBs than we do upon our FEs. Besides, our TBs, while responsive to our experiences, also depend upon many other factors. Our TBs serves as our control panel to evaluate and correct our initial reactions.

Furthermore, our TBs serve as a roadmap to chart our course. It has to be accurate. If it isn’t, we might harden our heart against a well-intentioned neighbor and needlessly reject any future apple pies. We might also end up in Chicago instead of Miami.

Our TBs are not simply an external guide, but they also control our thought-life and feelings about ourselves. My TBs have informed me that I tend to be insecure and oversensitive. I care too much about others’ love and thoughts about me. However, I have learned to adjust my TBs accordingly. When I feel unloved and vulnerable, I turn my thoughts to my Savior and His love for me – a love that transcends all understanding. The Apostle Paul had prayed that we would:

·       …know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)  

Having this knowledge has given me the resource to stand against my FEs. My TBs have strengthened me to face down my insecurities. Knowing that God accepts me has given me the confidence to accept myself and to face rejection and failure, which otherwise might have crippled me.

The same is true about my knowledge of God’s forgiveness (and many other Biblical truths). Knowing that He forgives me has given me wherewithal to override my overactive conscience. I know that:

·       If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

It is this knowledge that has enabled me to face my moral failures and to do something about them. My new TBs have freed me from so much that had once bound me in knots:

·       So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Lingering guilt is a cruel master. It can lead us to do foolish things in order to soothe it. We practice self-harm to minimize it. Or we can launch an idealistic crusade to cover it up. The late poet, T.S. Elliot, reflected on the dangers of idealism:

• Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm-- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.  

We are what we think and believe. Our beliefs are not lifeless sterile doctrines but living life-giving truths. It is the Bible that provides us with the TBs to free ourselves from this destructive and “endless struggle.”