‘Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.’ Romans 12:2 NIV

If an animal dies under your house, fanning the air and using cans of air freshener won’t solve your problem! The only way to solve the stinking problem is to deal with the source of the smell.

How does all this relate to your thinking? Simply this: your feelings are the odours/smells and your thoughts are the dead animal! To change your feelings, you must go to the source and deal with the thing that produced them—how you think. Thoughts produce feelings, not the other way around.

Worried people tend to think anxious thoughts, and eventually those thoughts become so automatic that, like a lingering bad smell, you stop noticing and learn to live with it. You get used to ‘stinking thinking’! Your thought patterns become as habitual as brushing your teeth. You get so accustomed to thinking bitter, anxious, selfish thoughts that you stop paying attention. If you want to change the quality of your life, you must change the way you think. The psalmist prayed, ‘Test me and know my anxious thoughts.’ (Psalm 139:23 NIV)

God will help you become aware of what’s going on in your mind from one moment to the next. He’ll direct you to the place where the dead animal is and help you deal with it. Not only will He show you how to remove wrong thoughts, but how to replace them with the right ones by setting your mind on ‘what the Spirit desires.’ (Romans 8:5 NIV)

SoulFood: Gen 20–23, Luke 8:40–56, Ps 125, Pro 4:3–4

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©