Keeping Your Thought Life Safe

Guest contribution by Karla from To Reflect His Glory.

“You are getting into a four-door car by yourself. It’s late at night and you are in a rough neighborhood. In order to feel safe, what is the first thing you are going to do when you get in the car? Right. Lock the doors. “How many doors will you lock? You may think this is a silly question, but think about it. If you only locked one or two or even three of the doors, would you be safe? Of course not. All four doors must be locked to keep out an unwelcome intruder. “The same is true with keeping out unwelcome sexual temptations.” (Every Woman’s Battle by Shannon Ethridge p. 67*)

Thank you, Faith Lifts, for asking me to come back this week and allowing me
the opportunity to elaborate on last week’s post “Thinking on Purpose.”
Last week, I talked about our thought life and mentioned handling
inappropriate thoughts with the Three Rs (as suggested by Shannon Ethridge):
Resisting, Redirecting and Renewing.

Let’s look at some of the key principles of the first R, Resisting.
Ethridge suggests coming up with a list of personal convictions about things
we can avoid. Everybody’s lists will be different of course, depending on
our own unique make-up and struggle(s). In developing our lists we may ask
ourselves some questions:

“Does this glamorize ideas or situations that oppose my Christian values?” “Is it uplifting to my spirit, and does it make me grateful for what God has given me, or does it make me depressed and dissatisfied?” “Does this cause me to think about things that build my character, or does it tear it down?” “Is it prohibited in Scripture? Is it beneficial? Does the practice in any way harm the husband or wife or hinder the sexual relationship? If so, it should be rejected. ‘Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial’ (1 Corinthians 6:12).” “Does it involve anyone else? Sexual activity is sanctioned by God for husband and wife only. If a sexual practice involves someone else or becomes public, it is wrong based on Hebrews 13:4, which warns us to keep the marriage bed undefiled.”

Secondly, we can redirect our thoughts. Remember, the thoughts
themselves are not sin - everyone has inappropriate thoughts pop into their
mind here and there. That’s the nature of temptation. Even Jesus was
tempted! The problem comes when we entertain such thoughts and let them
linger and intensify. Here are some strategies for redirecting
inappropriate thoughts: meditate on scriptures to stay properly focused;
sing a song (such as Stephen Curtis Chapman’s “Run Away”, Susan Ashton’s
“Walk on By” or “Get On” by Third Day); pray for his wife/the woman he will
one day marry OR pray for your husband/the man you’ll some day marry; do the
next thing (if you’re on your way somewhere and you run into “a guy”, when
he says hello and asks how you’re doing, answer briefly yet politely and be
on your way!)

Have a plan! Thinking is rehearsing!

Lastly, let’s work (or let the Holy Spirit work in us rather) to
renew our minds, according to Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, I urge you,
[sisters], in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of
worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to
test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Challenge yourself, be honest before God: Is there anything in your thought
life that you need to surrender to Him?

The garbage of this world is going to get hurled at us. Unfortunately, some
of it may try to stick to us. That’s where the renewal of the mind
comes in. We humans can’t just get rid of all the garbage, but we can do
some house cleaning and replace most of the garbage with pure, godly,
wholesome thoughts; those derived from scripture memory, Christian-living
books, praise and worship music, Christian magazines, prayer journals,
conversations with other Christians and anything else we can think of to get
godly thoughts into our minds.

Maybe it all seems a little legalistic and regimented to you. Please know
that I’m not saying what’s right and what’s wrong for you - that’s between
you and God. Between me and God, following these suggestions has provided
such peace for me, along with asking the Lord to help with it, of course.

Think of the quote at the beginning of today’s post. Are all your doors
locked? Is your thought life safe?

The offer always stands: please email me if you’d like for me to add you to
my prayer list. There is nothing like lifting each other up and supporting
each other in our struggles! God bless you as you seek Him!

^*All quotes are from Every Woman’s Battle by Shannon Ethridge.
Click here to visit her website.

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Karla is a 30-something Christ follower (who has failed many times and been welcomed back into the Father’s gracious arms with each repentance and rededication), wife to “Bo” for 8 years, mother to a two-year old daughter “Bean”, and full-time legal assistant. She lives in her native state of North Carolina and enjoys spending time with family, genealogy, photography, Sign Language and reading. She blogs with every spare second she can find, but most of all she seeks to reflect the Father’s glory in all things. You can visit Karla at To Reflect His Glory.