Your Life Is Shaped by Your Thoughts

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Life's Healing Choices

Your Life Is Shaped by Your Thoughts By Rick Warren — Jun 18, 2015 “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” (Proverbs 4:23 TEV) God is far more interested in changing your mind than changing your circumstances. We want God to take away all of the problems, pain, sorrow, suffering, sickness, and sadness. But God wants to work on you first, because transformation won’t happen in your life until you renew your mind, until your thoughts begin to change. Why is it so important that you learn how to manage your mind? Let me give you three reasons. Manage your mind, because your thoughts control your life. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (TEV). The power of your thoughts has tremendous ability to shape your life for good or for bad. For example, maybe you accept the thought someone told you when you were growing up, “You’re worthless. You don’t matter.” If you accepted that thought, even though it was wrong, it shaped your life. Manage your mind, because the mind is the battleground for sin. All temptation happens in the mind. Paul says in Romans 7:22-23, “I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin” (TLB). One of the reasons why you get mentally fatigued is because there’s a battle in your brain 24 hours a day. It’s debilitating because it’s intense, and it’s intense because your mind is your greatest asset. Satan wants your greatest asset! Manage your mind, because it’s the key to peace and happiness. An unmanaged mind leads to tension. A managed mind leads to tranquility. An unmanaged mind leads to conflict. A managed mind leads to confidence. An unmanaged mind leads to stress. When you don’t try to control your mind and the way you direct your thoughts, you will have an enormous amount of stress in your life. But a managed mind leads to strength and security and serenity. “Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (Romans 8:6 NLT, second edition). Talk It Over What do you fill your mind with that pleases God? What do you fill your mind with that disappoints God? How do you practice managing your mind? What role does Scripture play in managing your mind? Our Gift: Life's Healing Choices Study Kit Can you think of a time in your life when you have been hurt by someone? How about when you hurt someone else? Or, a time when you hurt yourself? These moments happen to us all. Some of our deepest pains and anxieties come from refusing to let God heal us. Everybody needs healing from some sort of hurt, hang-up, or habit. That’s why Pastor Rick created the Life’s Healing Choices Study Kit to take you through the eight healing choices Jesus taught in the Beatitudes. The DVD and Study Guide include these eight- life changing sessions taught by Rick Warren. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren Life's Healing Choices teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: The Reality Choice Message 2: ​The Hope You Need For Change Message 3: ​Letting Go and Letting God Message 4: ​The Housecleaning Choice Message 5: ​The Transformation Choice Message 6: The Relationship Choice Message 7: The Growth Choice Message 8: The Sharing Choice PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2015 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe