Our Thoughts are Important

Lately, I have wondered if our thoughts really matter.  After all, I reasoned, thoughts are part of our secret life and no one is really affected by them. How would the ravings of our imaginations, our secret wishes and desires, and the private rage or love we hold for another really matter? I started searching for answers and found them in the Bible.

In His word, God gives us two important clues about why what we think really does matter.

Proverbs 23:7 KJV For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:

Our thoughts become things, our reality. Our words have creative power. When we think on evil things we open the door for Satan to enter in and bring evil, destructive things into our lives. We give him a foothold and he takes every opportunity. He wants us to think things that give him the power to bring us down to his level.

The result is the same pride and disobedience that caused original sin in the Garden of Eden. It still lives in the hearts of men and women today.

Creative Power

God had a thought and created the universe and everything in it. We see an amazing collection of plants and animals, mountains and rivers, and those who believe will enjoy His heavenly realms in the fullness of time. 

He made us in His image so we are creative.  We cannot make Orion or an ocean but our creative powers are shown in many other ways. We can write beautiful poetry, build a house, or decorate a cake because we thought of it and He gave us that creative spark.

If we dwell on what is lovely and holy, then we draw more of these things into our existence. We become what we think.  We draw in the kind of things we think about.

God's Thoughts

We find the second clue in Isaiah. 

Isaiah 55.8 KJV For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

We cannot know God’s thoughts.  I am sure he does not think the kind of stuff that passes through my mind. His thoughts are Holy and the Bible says we see through a mirror darkly.

Some day He may reveal His thoughts to us. Until then, we can think on the things of God, words of life and love.  Or we can think the thoughts of Satan and bring evil and vileness into our lives. The choice is up to us. I found the answer to my question.

Image of elephants is in the common domain

Bible verses from BibleGateway.com King James Version of the Bible.