Be Sure to Think AND Think Before You Speak

Have you ever said some dumb “something” and so wished you could retract those words, but it was too late? The damage was done. I sincerely wish we had a built-in “pause” button that gave us a delay between what we are thinking and what we are about to speak. Often those hurtful words babble out just too quickly. Just a little “damage control” over our thoughts might have saved us from……damage to someone’s spirit and our relationship with them.

Speaking of “thinking” before we speak that hurts others -- what about the words we speak about ourselves? We need “damage control” over those words, too. I’ve heard people say words so negative about themselves that I want to put my finger to their lips and say "Shh. Don't say that!" They’ll say self-demeaning words like “I’m so stupid", "I just look at a cookie, and I gain weight", "I get a cold this time every year", "I could never do that", "I’ll never be able to afford that", "I’m too old to do that", “I can’t EVER remember names”, etc. And, you know what? They will continue to get what they are saying and thinking.

I am generally an optimistic thinker…AND speaker. I wasn’t born that way, but through conscious effort and repetition, I’ve become that person that sees the glass, not just half full, but FULL. I really do wake up each morning, anticipating a great day, good health and success, good things coming my way and I sincerely believe that I can overcome any difficulty, because of God Who is in me. I consistently pray Psalms 141:3 “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” and Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD.” It really takes “a village” (Father, Son and Holy Spirit, angels, and saints) to help me because the natural inclination, in myself alone, would to be concerned for what this day and tomorrow could hold. Thanks be to God -- my thinking AND speaking have given me such a full, blessed and joy-filled life.

We really can control and change our thoughts and what we speak. It’s like changing the channel on a TV – we see a program we don’t want to watch, so we change the channel. In the same way, when a negative thought comes to us, rather than continuing to think that negative thought….we can change the channel to something good and positive. Those who think themselves a failure or unworthy of success and live in fear of what tomorrow may bring, will encounter closed doors, being late to appointments and other distractions that will keep them from succeeding.

But, if we make a conscious effort to thinking, speaking, writing, reading and watching the good and positive "stuff of life", eventually, it will be second nature for us to shift any negative focus to positive. If we think positively, expect favorable results, then our situations and circumstances will change. If we persevere, we will transform the way our mind thinks, as well as the beautiful things that will start coming our way.

My thoughts for today for you AND me are: "It's a beautiful day. We are loved. We are blessed. We are favored with good and great things coming our way. We have many friends and are making even more friends. We walk into a room and it brightens up just because we entered it. We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. We are healthy and whole. We are lovers. We are givers. SOMETHING GOOD is going to happen to us today!"