Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (NKJV)
A more modern version of that quote is, “You are what you think you are.” You have an incredibly
powerful tool at your fingertips, figuratively speaking. Actually, it is located between your ears. It is
your brain; it houses your mind, that very complex three-pound tool that runs your body and your life. Once upon a time, it was a known “fact” that no one could run a mile faster than four minutes. A man named Roger Bannister didn’t believe it and on May 6, 1954, he ran the first sub-four minute mile. History books and record books are full of stories of people who did not agree with a popular belief, either about themselves as individuals or as part of a group. In the last few years there have been two movies about the Tuskegee Airmen, the group of African-American fighter pilots in World War II who, as the 332nd Fighter Group, amassed a tremendous record. They proved beyond any doubts that an official Army study which stated African-Americans did not have the brain power, physical ability and aggressiveness to become fighter pilots was completely wrong. They saw themselves differently and proved it in the skies over Europe.
That power that God gave us to control our own life, our destiny, is one of His greatest gifts to us. He
has given us the ability to change our lives, our behavior, in such a way that it benefits us, our family,
and God. It also has the unbridled ability to do just the opposite. Our thoughts can raise us up above
the expectations of anyone else, or they can sink us to the lowest depths. Our lives, within the
limitations of our physical bodies, can accomplish almost anything we can imagine.
So, who is in control of the way we act, speak, or think? We are. No one can control us except God, and He has given us the free will to choose. We choose. One more time: WE choose. It is a natural
tendency to blame someone else for our poor behavior. How many times have you told someone, “You make me SO ANGRY!”? Really? Just how did they do that? Did they take over the control of your mind? For you Star Trek fans, did someone do the Vulcan Mind Meld and force their thoughts into your mind and control you? Nope. It didn’t happen. Someone else may have done something or said something you didn’t like, but you made a choice to get angry, even to the point of physical violence. There was a comedian many years ago whose catch-phrase was, “The devil made me do it.” Not even the devil has that much power. He can tempt you and you can follow that path, but it is still your decision.
We also make a choice to be happy. There is so much focus on the negative aspects of choice that this
needs to be said as well. Life’s events are neutral. How we react to them is the choice we make. When we engage in certain activities, see certain people, observe something or someone, we choose our reaction. When we judge that as something good, we choose to be happy. It may not be a conscious choice; it may be a matter of acting or thinking or feeling that we have done before and now repeat.
All too often, a relationship starts out smoothly. Whether it is with a spouse, child, parent, friend, or
work associate. What happens when one of them starts to have a problem with the other? What may
happen is that a choice is made to cause damage to the relationship, one that should not be made. Or, a choice may be made to work on it, to not allow damage to happen. One person CHOOSES to take that path. Any relationship is tough by anyone’s definition and making it a successful one is not for the fainthearted.How do you see yourself in your relationships? Do you see yourself as being strong in it, willing to be a partner, to compromise when necessary, to help and support and defend? Or, do you see yourself as having one foot out the door, as being willing to “try” to make the relationship a success, but in reality ready to quit at the first difficulty, to cause relationship-ending damage? As the Proverb above says, the way you see yourself, the way you see your part in any relationship, is how it is going to be, because that is the way that you are going to make it be.
No one likes to take the blame for their own actions or words. We all like to blame someone else for our failures and, conversely, take the credit for our successes. Like the student who takes the credit for the top grade and then blames the teacher for the poor one, we are the sum of our choices in this life and the product of how we see ourselves. We are also responsible for where we spend the next life. If you choose to follow the guidance that God has given to all of us, then you will get to be one of those who spend eternity with Him. If you choose to ignore His guidance, then you have chosen to spend eternity someplace else, in a place that is infinitely unpleasant.
Think about what you choose to be. Do you see yourself as one who chooses to believe in God, to
follow him and his son, Jesus Christ, to allow the Holy Spirit enter into your life? Or, do you see yourself as one who denies all of that? The scripture quote at the top is not just some catch phrase, it is an absolute truth.
Life and the afterlife are all within your control. You get to choose. It is how you see yourself that will determine your ultimate destination. So, what is your vision?
