Train yourself to think different & Guard your heart

Fears, Feelings, & Guarding Your Heart... 

So many of the decisions that we make in life are all based on our thoughts, fears, and feelings. The bible clearly says that our feelings lie! Our heart can deceive us. 

" The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9

I guess the popular phrase "just trust your heart" isn't really the best advice.

If we are afraid of what others think of us, we will choose to do things based on that fear. If we think negatively about our image, we will in turn do things in a negative light. 

We can't rely on our feelings or fears to be logical. The things that we think on are often driven by our fleshly desires. So, if we think differently, we will make different decisions && we will get different results.

Things in your life will influence the decisions you make...

Your influences:

- who do u surround yourself with? 

- are you hanging around with the types of people you want to be like? 

- are you spending time with friends who want to grow in Christ or who only care about worldly things?

What you fill your mind with:

- are you reading books that will help you grow or are you always reading tabloid magazines and love stories?

- are you constantly spending time on Facebook or twitter being a busy body... Caring about what other people ate for dinner that day or who posted the latest duck lips pics?

- what types of tv shows and movies do you watch? Are you watching things that promote sex, immodesty, and bullying? Or are you watching movies that are uplifting and encouraging?

We must saturate ourselves with whatever it is we want to become. 

Well, I used to fill my mind and heart with reality shows, tabloids, and useless information about anyone and everyone's lives on Facebook. I used to put value in all of these things.
 I used to be a busy body. Insecure. I used to compare myself to other people. I found myself wanting things that they had.
I used to spend time with people who cared ALOT about what other people's perceptions were of them. I started caring about what other people thought of me too. I also began acting differently to try and gain acceptance from these people.
I was so unhappy deep down even though I always made sure to put on a happy face and post pictures of my "fabulous" life on Facebook so that everyone would think I had it all together. It was all fake. All an illusion. 

I'm so thankful that the Lord knocked me off my feet and showed me that I was looking for approval in all the wrong places. He showed me that I needed to renew my mind. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" Romans 12:2. If I wanted to stop acting like someone I wasn't, trying to find approval from others, always desiring what others had, and  stop feeling insecure I needed to change my thinking. Change the things I filled my mind with and put into my heart. 

So.....

- I began reading Gods word more

- I started reading Christian personal growth books

- I stopped reading tabloids and fashion magazines

- I deleted my Facebook so that I wouldn't compare myself to others.

- I began spending time around people from my church. I joined a bible study. 

- I stopped watching movies that I felt God would not want His beloved child to be filling her heart with 

- I started to thank God constantly for all of the things He blessed me with and for His love and grace

- I slowly started focusing on changing and growing the qualities of my heart

 You will duplicate what you surround yourself with... Good or bad

- never settle

- always strive to get better

- pursue excellence

- you have to be willing to do what it takes to change... 

- when you are doing the right things for a long enough period of time it will create good habits and will retrain your thinking

- you can decide to do it, BUT you must take action and you must continue to make changes on a DAILY basis... it is crucial that we stay on point day by day to continue to work towards what we set out to do.

 Here are some more tips to making a change!

1. Serve others, not yourself. We should strive to have this mindset in all things we do.Serving others is counter cultural...

2. take action when you do not feel like it, so that the right mindset sets in.

3. Above all else, protect your heart!  Be on guard with the things that you fill it up with. "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23

4. Pray that God will help you and work in your heart. Pray that He will guard your heart.

I am no longer the insecure, approval seeker that I once was. I no longer compare myself to others and fill my mind with negative things. I strive to guard my heart and keep it pure. 

I'm so much more secure. So much happier. Confident. Loving. Kind. Mature. Gracious. Godly. My heart is in a better condition than it was before, when I filled it with worldly things. I thank God for that. It is only by His grace. Only through the sanctification of His word. 

What are some of the things you think you should cut out of your life?

Do you seek to please the people of this world more than God?

You're not alone. I still struggle with my fleshly desires. I'm just better equipped now than i used to be to say No to myself on a daily basis. I still screw up... But God is still helping me. 

I'm not where I need to be but thank God I'm not where I used to be!