“Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” Unknown

If this quote had CliffsNotes, it’d say, “Watch your thoughts, they become your destiny.” 

Our recent sermon titled “Every Woman’s Battle” turned out not to be about our mouths at all, like most of us church women thought, but about our minds. We should have thought about that, right? Especially since we think about a million other things. Pastor JP said, “Gossip and negativity are the sins that come from a woman’s battle with her mind.”  

Joyce Meyer wrote a book that goes right along with the sermon called Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind. She wrote notes and commentary for a Bible titled similarly, Battlefield of the Mind Bible: Renew Your Mind Through the Power of God’s Word. 

I bought the Bible at an outlet store several months ago because it was on sale, not because I understood its worth. I should have bought the whole stack and given them away to friends.  

I intended this chapter to be mostly about our emotions, and very little about our mouths and minds. In the chapter “Dead for a Decade,” I said, “I had to get out of my crazy head and deal with my broken heart,” and I did.

Before I could sit still with my thoughts, I needed to be able to sit still at all. For a while, my thoughts and emotions tag teamed getting better and some healing occurred. 

However, healing increased tenfold during the pandemic lockdown when I happened upon the church across the street. They offered three services every Sunday, and I attended them all. At home, I listened to the sermon another time or two during the week. I also listened to inspirational speakers who offered hope online like Athena Dean Holtz at Redemption Press, Karen Wheaton’s Front Porch Friends, and Kirk Cameron’s American Campfire Revival. 

I read a dozen inspirational books and at least two daily devotional readings in between the online programs. I finished and restarted reading my Bible. I replayed Christian music I heard at church until the next Sunday when I heard more songs to replay. 

Instead of trying harder to overcome emotions, I leaned harder into my shaky faith. I reflected on times I’d done the opposite, but not this time … maybe because it was way too scary to trust anything in the world or to trust myself any longer.

Pastor JP listed ways to unclutter our thoughts daily – recognize, reject, and replace wrong thoughts like worry and negativity. Until his sermon, I didn’t recognize that’s what I’d done for a year and a half. Like it says on the Bible commentated by Joyce Meyer, I renewed my mind through the power of God’s Word and by reading and hearing others talk about Him. 

My life changed and healed the more I changed my mind. Watch your thoughts, they become your destiny. 

In This Together,
Kim

FYI: I’m blogging my book titled On The Other Side of Trying Hard: Healing, Happiness, and Holiness. Because these blog posts are a manuscript instead of stand-alone stories, some posts may leave you hanging. I hope you’ll hang in here with us anyway ‘cause a happy ending is coming. My blog post title includes the chapter title first. The phrase in parentheses is the subheading. I’m over-the-top grateful to have you here. I’d love to hear your reflections, questions, and comments.