“Thoughts begin to bray when we wake up and refuse to shut off until we sleep. (Though some of them seem to keep needling while we sleep.) They are the inner chatter, the internal narrator who calls play-by-play on our deeds. They render verdicts on our choices . . . and do their darndest to sour the here and now. . . . Thoughts are everywhere.”- Max Lucado
“We now know that many of the attributes we value most are, in fact, skills, which can be trained the same way you build your body in the gym.”- Dan Harris, 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works — A True Story
In Chapter 1 (“Think About Your Mind and Transform Your Life”) of Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life, Max Lucado asks you to take a pen and paper. Then make a mark each time you have a thought. Certainly, no simple task. Because thoughts:
- heckle.
- help.
- remind us of regrets.
- buzz about like a swarm of bees: some make honey, others inflict pain.
Most significantly, Max reports, researchers at the Laboratory of Neural Imaging found that your brain, a three-pound computer, process seventy thousand thoughts each day. Above all, we are the sum of those thoughts. Therefore, Pastor Lucado explains the concept of neuroplasticity. Max notes:
“The brain is not a published book, completed early in life. It is an editable manuscript. You can, quite literally, change your mind. Just as a sculptor shapes a ball of putty, it’s possible to sculpt your brain.”
In conclusion, Max stresses, the apostle Paul stated this in a very succinct way. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul said they were taught:
“. . . with yourselves, mentally and spiritually remade, to put on the clean fresh clothes of the new life (PHILLIPS).”
Today’s question: What Bible verses, hymns, or Christian songs help silence your inner chatter? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Unhealthy thoughts web”