I don’t care much for the “think positive thoughts” thing. What I mean to say is, the practice of attempting to think “happy thoughts” all the time to bring about some result.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying the opposite: that we are to dwell on negativity.
I heard an old message comparing the mind to a field of soil. If you have a field of soil you can plant whatever you want in it. If you want to plant corn, you can plant corn. If you want wheat, you plant that. If you want beautiful and fragrant flowers, you plant those. If you want to plant dangerous plants like poison ivy or deadly nightshade, you plant those items. The point is, the soil doesn’t care what you put into it. As long as you plant something, fertilize it, water it, and tend to it, the thing you planted will grow. Make sense?
Now, think of your mind. Your mind doesn’t care what you put into it. You can fill it with the Word of God and that truth will take root. You can plant seeds of desiring to help others and those will grow. Or, you can fill your mind with ugly things like malice, lies, pornography, foul language, and all sorts of evil and those things will manifest and take root. Contrast someone like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa to a Jeffrey Dahmer or Osama bin Laden. One side has filled their minds with love and the others with hatred.
I had heard this message years ago but I suppose it wasn’t until now that it really sunk in. All my life I’ve tended to focus on the negative side of things. I remember a high school friend of mine called me a pessimist one time and it bothered me because I never realized it.
Ultimately, it’s a heart condition. Jesus talked about this in Mark.
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” –Mark 7:21-23.
Wow. What a list. Jesus is speaking of the heart, but to the Jews of the time, the heart and the mind were connected. Next time someone says, “yeah, but he/she has a good heart,” remember the words of Jesus.
Back to PMA, or “positive mental attitude.” I believe God has the true version of what PMA is supposed to be. It’s not some contrivance or some trite response to circumstances. No, it’s a divine formula of things we are to meditate on at all times.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. –Philippians 4:8.
There it is. Of course, we are to meditate on all of scripture. But if we want a manageable list of things to focus on mind on, here they are. This is God’s version of a positive mental attitude.
May He Increase!
