Imagination and Reality, Thoughts and Actions

March 24, 2021

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 NLV

Fitness experts say, “You are what you eat!” They mean that eventually the things you put into your body eventually show up on and in your body. For instance, your body will show the results of too many carbs and calories, or too little protein. You will either to be too heavy or your muscles will be weak and flabby. Perhaps your interior body will begin breaking down. Eating the wrong kinds of things can affect parts of your body by creating too much acid, etc. What you put in will eventually be evident.

Wisdom says that what you put in your mind will sooner or later be on display as well. Your heart metaphorically is the seat of the will, intellect, and feelings. It is where you meditate, think, and where your emotions live. A person can carefully compose themselves to disguise what they are thinking or feeling. For a time, what they are thinking deep within can be hidden, but eventually the thoughts of the heart take over the will, and they become discernable by others because they have become what they allowed to reside in their mind. They actively became what they thought about. They actually do what they once only imagined.

This is why Jesus and God’s people through the years have consistently urged us to think pure, godly, uplifting, charitable, kind thoughts. All the relationships and actions in our lives owe their success or failure primarily to our thoughts. Every magnificent thing began in the mind of its creator; every despicable, horrible action began in the mind of the actor.

You WILL become what you consistently think. You can initially think badly about yourself but wear a façade of capability and charm. That will eventually wear thin, and the real you will show up. You can operate as a critical, manipulative person and few will know it for a while. But the truth will come out, and you won’t even know it is showing.

Your thoughts lie to you. They can handicap you and hold you prisoner, keeping you from ever revealing the magnificent, one-of-a-kind person you were in God’s mind and creation. From the beginning of His creation of you inside your mother’s womb, He put the very best in you. But your experiences in life and your false beliefs about them have piled layers over your true self as you have imagined and believed restricting, fatalistic thoughts. You must work with God to replace the wrong thoughts with the thoughts that will cause you and those around you to flourish as you become a truly wonderful you, reflecting the image of Christ.

• Pray: Lord Jesus, truth is I know I am addicted to my thoughts. I have developed ruts in my mind, shaping the way I live my daily life. I don’t know how to think and feel any differently. It seems impossible to me. I immediately go to the wrong place in my mind. Immediately signal to me when I am off track. Help me resist the wrong and choose the right. For Your sake and my sake. Amen.