Pastor’s Corner: “Word Rodeo”
Philippians 4:8 (NIV) – Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”
Toxic thoughts produce toxic talk. Think about what you’re thinking about. If you’re stewing on toxic thoughts in your head, then you’ll be spewing toxic words from your mouth.
Have you ever been to a rodeo and watched a lassoing contest? The little calf bursts from the stall, and then the cowboy and his horse follow in close pursuit. With lasso in hand, the cowboy swings the rope in the air and attempts to catch the little calf before it escapes out the corral door at the opposite side of the arena. That is a vivid picture of what we need do with the words that attempt to escape the gate (the mouth).
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) teaches us to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Once we lasso a thought (take it captive), we can decide which words leave the gate and which words need to be tied up and secured. Various studies show that we speak at about 120 to 160 words a minute. That’s a lot of little rouge calves we need to rope in. Thoughts bursts from the stall called the brain and it runs across the mind headed for the door called the mouth. In a split second we must determine if that thought is true, helpful, inspiring, necessary or kind.
First by taking our thoughts captive can we lasso and filter the words that come out of our mouth. What we think about affects the words that come out of our mouths. Matthew 15:18 (NIV) – 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. Toxic thoughts produce toxic words and those words defile (ruin, corrupt, pollute, contaminate & dishonor) us & others. Toxic thoughts = toxic words = contamination and dishonoring ourselves and others with the sewage that spews from our mouths. James 3:9-10 (ERV) – 9 We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people who were created in God’s likeness. 10 These praises and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen.
Think about your own thought life. Watch for patterns. What are you reading? What are you watching? What are you listening to? Where do you spend most of your time? What kind of words are being spoken by the people we surround ourselves with? Sewage in, sewage out.
What are you thinking inside, especially when you feel negative, discouraged, or emotionally down? What are the painful memories and feelings that dominate your thought life? Are these from our loving and merciful Father, or are they from the enemy? The enemy is working overtime to fill our minds with sewage! Remember, what God says about us is true and what the enemy says about us in a lie because he is a liar. Is our thought life filled with lies or truth? Where do we find truth? In His Word and through His Holy Spirit in us. Romans 8:6 (NLT) – Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
Let us learn to listen to God rather than the enemy and let Holy Spirit control our mind and words. We don’t have to let Satan outwit us because we are not unaware of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). God’s truth is there to set us free.
Lord, we pray that You would help us take every thought captive and think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. We want to have a positive mind and life, honoring You in our thoughts. Help us to surrender our thought life and our heart to You Jesus and let Holy Spirit guide us. Help us to believe Your truth on a daily basis. We want Your truth and love to have the final word and say in our life.
In His grace,
Pastor Hamilton