Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind (18 page)

Think about It

What are you doing to show love to others?

More than a Feeling

Some people think of love as a wonderful feeling—a sensation of excitement or gushy emotions that make us feel warm and fuzzy all over. While love certainly has its wonderful feelings and powerful emotions, it’s so much more than that. Real love has little to do with gooey emotions and goose bumps; and it has everything to do with the choices we make about the way we treat people. Real love is not theory or talk; it is action. It is a decision concerning the way we behave in our relationships with other people. Real love meets needs even when sacrifice is required in order to do so. The Bible makes this point in 1 John 3:18: “Let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity).” Clearly, love moves us to take action—not just to theorize or talk.

I am amazed when I think about how often we know the right thing to do, but never get around to doing it. The apostle James said that if we hear the Word of God and don’t do it, we deceive ourselves with reasoning that does not agree with the truth (see James 1:21, 22). In other words, we know what is right but we make an excuse for ourselves. We find reason to exempt ourselves from doing what we would tell others that they ought to do. If we really want to walk in love, we will
do
what is right.

For quite some time, I have been challenging people around the world with the challenge I want to present to you today: would you make a commitment before God and sincerely in your heart to do at least one thing for somebody else every day? It may sound simple, but to do it, you will have to think about it and choose to do it on purpose. You may even have to move beyond the normal group of people in your life and do things for people you would not normally reach out to or even strangers. That’s okay, though, because there are so many people in the world who have never, ever had anyone do anything nice for them and they are desperate for some words or actions of love.

Let love be the main theme of your life and you will have a life worth living. The Bible says we know that we have passed over from death to life if we love one another (see 1 John 3:14). Remember: “where the mind goes, the man follows.” If you truly desire to excel in the love walk, you must first purpose to fill your mind with kind, loving, unselfish, and generous thoughts. This is an opportunity to practice the “on-purpose” thinking principle we talked about in the first section of the book. It is impossible to change your behavior unless you change your mind. Start thinking loving, generous thoughts today, and you’ll soon have a life full of love and happiness. Take a few minutes each morning and ask God to show you what you can do for somebody else that day. You can even choose a specific person and ask Him to show you what you can do for them. It will get your mind off of you and release new levels of joy in your life as well as be a great encouragement to the people you reach out to.

Think about It

What will you do to put love into action today?

What about Me?

Caring about other people is the greatest thing we can ever do because, as human beings, we are so innately selfish. Selfishness and self-centeredness are inbred in us. The focus of our thoughts tends to be on ourselves, and whether we ever utter the words with our mouths or not, we constantly ask, “What about me? What about me? What about me?” This is not the way God wants us to live.

I spent many years of my life as a very unhappy, dissatisfied person, and I wasted a lot of time thinking my unhappiness was someone else’s fault. Thoughts such as,
If I just had more money, I would be happy,
or
If people did more for me, I would be happy,
or
If I did not have to work so hard, I would be happy,
or
If I felt better physically, I would be happy
filled my mind. The list of reasons I thought caused my unhappiness seemed endless, and no matter what I did to entertain myself nothing worked for long. I was a Christian; I had a growing ministry and a wonderful family but my joy level was definitely affected by my circumstances. Getting what I wanted made me happy for a while, but my happiness evaporated quickly and I soon needed another “fix” of getting my way or getting what I wanted.

As I grew in my personal relationship with God, I literally became desperate for peace, stability, true happiness, and joy. That kind of hunger for change usually requires facing some truth—maybe some unpleasant truth or things we don’t like to admit—about ourselves, and I have learned that if we really want truth, God will give it to us. As I began seeking God for the root cause of my unhappiness, He showed me that I was very selfish and self-centered. My focus was on what others could and should do for me, rather than what I could do for them. That was not easy for me to accept, but doing so was the beginning of a life-changing journey with God.

As God led me, I was reminded that I had grown up in a home that was not loving and kind. The people I lived with were self-focused and did not really care who was hurt as long as they got what they wanted. My role models were selfish, insensitive people. Since these were the character traits I observed, they were the ones I developed. No one ever taught me about love, kindness, or giving until I entered a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

God helped me begin to see myself as a person who could give and help. I had to change my thinking from, “What about me,” to “What can I do for you?” I would like to say this was an easy change to make, but the truth is that it was very difficult and took a lot longer than I like to admit.

Over time, I came to understand that God is love and His nature is that of a giver (see 1 John 4:8). He gives, He helps, He cares, and He sacrifices. He does not merely do these things occasionally, but they represent His constant attitude toward us. Love is not something God does, it is who He is. He always offers us love, generosity, grace, and help. It is true that God is just and there are times when He punishes sin, but even that He does out of love, for our own good, to teach us the right way to live. Everything God does is for our good; all of His commands are intended to help us have the best lives we can possibly have. He commands us to love and be kind to others, which means taking the focus off of ourselves, silencing the voice that asks “What about me?” and learning to follow Jesus’ example of being kind, generous, and loving toward others.

Think about It

Ask God to show you the root cause(s) of any unhappiness in your life. Be willing to face the truth about yourself even if you don’t like it. This is the first step toward a better life!

Do It Deliberately

Jesus told us plainly what we need to do if we want to follow Him. “If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me]” (Mark 8:34). The “cross” we are asked to carry in life is simply one of unselfishness.

Most of us concentrate on what we can
get
in life, but we need to concentrate on what we can
give.
We think about what other people should do for us and often become angry because they do not give us what we want. Instead, we should think aggressively about what we can do for others and then trust God to meet our needs and fulfill our desires.

Please notice that I say we need to think
aggressively
about what we can do for others. Galatians 6:10 conveys the same meaning, encouraging us to “Be mindful to be a blessing.” Simply put, to “be mindful” means to be intentional, to be purposeful and deliberate. God wants us to think on purpose and to make a point of being a blessing to others.

I do my best to be aggressive in my thinking about who I can bless, and realizing that I must give and help on purpose has been very beneficial to me. It did not come naturally. I had to learn to do it, but it has been one of the greatest, most rewarding lessons of my life. There are certainly times when I “feel” like being a blessing, but there are many times when I don’t. Sometimes I may also feel that people should be doing more for me, and in reality perhaps they should be, but that cannot be my concern. I have learned to trust God to get to me what He wants me to have and to personally continue reaching out to others. We cannot live by what we feel and ever have consistency and stability. Our ability to choose is greater than how we feel and it is that ability we must activate. Be deliberate about love!

I remember one specific morning when I sat and thought,
Okay, God, I want to bless someone today.
I was not talking about blessing someone by preaching or teaching, but in my personal life, in my own little corner of the world. I always want to make sure I am living the same way I encourage other people to live so I thought through the various people I would be around that day.

About thirty seconds later, God showed me something I could do for a specific person. He impressed upon me the fact that being a blessing to that person by simply telling her how much I appreciated her would really mean a lot to her and give her fuel for the day. All I needed to do was say, “I just want you to know I really appreciate you.” It didn’t take long, and it didn’t require much effort, but I did have to think about it. I had to choose to do it on purpose; I had to be intentional about wanting to bless someone.

I encourage you to begin to think on purpose about how you can be a blessing to the people around you. Remember, it does not have to cost money although at times it may; it does not always have to take much time; and it does not have to take an enormous amount of energy. Blessing people can be quick and easy, but it won’t just happen. You have to do it deliberately. At times what God asks us to do may be more costly to us in time, effort, or finances than at other times, but either way we need to be ready to be God’s ambassador on earth. Use what you have in the service of God and man and your needs will always be met.

Think about It

How will you deliberately be a blessing to someone this week?

Be a Blessing Dispenser

The love of God is in us because God puts His love in our hearts when we accept Jesus as our Savior, but it needs to get
through
us in order for it to help anyone else. In Genesis 12:2, God told Abraham He would bless him and make him a person who dispensed blessings everywhere he went. When I read that story, I am reminded of a bottle of hand lotion I have, one that has a pump on it. When I press the pump, it dispenses hand lotion. That’s the way I want to be with blessings. When people come near me, I want to dispense something good, something that will benefit them.

I want to encourage you to use what you have to meet needs for other people, and to have what I call “prosperity with a purpose.” Don’t pray to be prosperous so you can have more and more for yourself, but make certain you use a good portion of what you have to bless others. I am not talking about only putting money into an offering at church on Sundays. I am talking about doing things for people in your daily life—people you work with, people in your family, people you like and people you may not particularly like, people you know and people you don’t know, and those you think deserve it as well as those you don’t think deserve it. This is an exciting way to live, as I have learned from personal experience.

I was out shopping one day and felt God wanted me to pay for another customer’s earrings. I didn’t know who the lady was; I had never seen her before; and I thought she might think I was a bit unusual because I wanted to buy the earrings for her. But the sense that I needed to pay for her earrings just wouldn’t go away. So I finally walked up to her with enough money in my hand to cover the earrings and said, “Listen, I’m a Christian and I just feel that God wants you to be blessed today. He wants you to know He loves you, so here’s the money to pay for your earrings.”

I got away as quickly as I could because if she thought I was crazy, I didn’t want to know it! Months and months later, I heard that the lady actually was out shopping that day with someone who recognized me and watched me on television. That person had a neighbor, a man who tended to poke fun at me and did not speak nicely about me. The woman from the store told the man what had happened and it changed his attitude. That man who once made fun of me ended up watching our television broadcast regularly and receiving salvation!

You never know what God has in store when He puts something on your heart to do—even when it may not make sense to you or when it seems silly or embarrassing. If He asks you to do something, do it. I assure you, He always knows what He is doing, so even when you don’t understand, go ahead and obey.

When I paid for the woman’s earrings during my shopping trip, I was blessed, the lady who got the earrings was blessed, the woman who witnessed it was blessed, God was honored, and the man who became a believer was blessed. I am thankful I was obedient in that situation. In many Scripture passages, the Bible teaches that when we obey God, we are blessed and when we don’t, we aren’t. It’s that simple. I do my best to obey God when I sense He wants me to do something to bless someone, but I have certainly “missed it” at times and removed myself from being able to receive a blessing. Let me explain.

I was once in a large discount shoe store and the customer in front of me in line had several pairs of shoes she intended to purchase. I began to sense that God wanted me to pay for her shoes, but I thought she would think I was crazy, so I fiddled around long enough to keep from doing it and I didn’t say anything to her. When the clerk told her the total amount of her purchase, she didn’t have enough money to pay for her shoes. I felt so bad! Not only was I unwilling to be embarrassed in front of her, I was also ashamed before God because I disobeyed Him. Take my word for it, obedience is better than disobedience. I don’t always get it right, and you probably won’t either, but I am moving forward—and you can too. That’s what God wants from us.