Your Mind is a Garden
"Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds."
What do you think about? Do your thoughts lift you up or bring you down? Are you using the time you think productively or are you wasting time? Is your mind clean or is it cluttered?
Our thoughts aren't things we normally focus on. We just think. But our thoughts effect us. They can either effect us positively or negatively. And the power is in our hands.
Thinking about what you're thinking about sounds really odd when you first hear it. You may be wondering what the point of doing so is. Take a minute to observe your mind, which is your garden. What do you see? Weeds, which are negative thoughts? Flowers, which are positive ones? How does is make you feel to look at whatever it is that is growing in your garden?
Our thoughts should have a positive outcome on our lives. Unfortunately, a lot of the time negative thoughts take over our gardens. Weeds of anxiety, depression, heartbreak, confusion, and more take root in our minds. If you are struggling, I know how you feel. You want to rip out all of the weeds and feel peace. But it won't work.
It's not easy to clear our gardens of all of the bad things growing inside of them. Right when the weeds of negativity sprout, replace them with seeds of positivity. Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.
True | Think about things that are true. You are enough. You are loved. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God will never leave you nor forsake you. All of these things are true about you!
Noble | Think about things that are noble. Who can you bless today? What can you do to help out your friends and family members? How can you shine the light of Jesus onto everyone you see? These things ae noble.
Right | Think about things that are right. We all know our rights from our wrongs. Don't think about things like how you can bring someone down, or hurt someone's feelings. Don't seek revenge. You know when something is not right, and God sees it too. Even your thoughts.
Pure | Think about things that are pure. An example of something that is pure is God's word. God tells us to meditate on His word by day and by night. Applying His words to our thoughts can make a huge difference in our lives and in the gardens of our minds!
Lovely | Think about things that are lovely. Whatever that may be for you. For me it's something like getting lost in awe of God's creations. He made the stars that shine in the sky at night, and He knows them by name. He made plants, and an incredible way for them to grow in nature. He made animals, and gave them instincts so that they can survive. The list goes on and on! Think about what is lovely to you.
Admirable | Think about things that are admirable. Once again, this is something that is probably different for everyone. I know for me, things that are admirable are courage, kindness, love, thankfulness, and contentment. Those are only a few, and I could name many more. Whatever your list contains is up for you to decide!
Excellent | Think about things that are excellent. Excellence can be found is many different things. From the thought of knowing God has the knowledge to know how many grains of sand are on all of the beaches in the whole world, to the feeling of having people that love and care for you. I encourage you to take a minute to explore where you can find excellence.
Praiseworthy | Think about things that are praiseworthy. This is one of my favorite words God used in Philippians 4:8 to describe what we should think about. This is where victory comes in. This is where something so amazing happens that you want to stop everything you are doing to praise God and thank Him for it! To me this is when I think about how far God has carried me, how through everything I've been through He never once left my side. How I am being healed from my anxiety right before my eyes. How my Nanna that was battling cancer is now cancer-free. How my youngest brother that was once a foster child is now adopted into our family and has a safe forever home. All of these things are SO praiseworthy.
When thinking about all of the things mentioned above, you are too occupied for those negative thoughts to creep in. You're too busy planting flowers in your garden. All of those weeds need to find a different garden to take root in, because they aren't aloud in yours.
What do you think about? Do your thoughts lift you up or bring you down? Are you using the time you think productively or are you wasting time? Is your mind clean or is it cluttered?
Our thoughts aren't things we normally focus on. We just think. But our thoughts effect us. They can either effect us positively or negatively. And the power is in our hands.
Thinking about what you're thinking about sounds really odd when you first hear it. You may be wondering what the point of doing so is. Take a minute to observe your mind, which is your garden. What do you see? Weeds, which are negative thoughts? Flowers, which are positive ones? How does is make you feel to look at whatever it is that is growing in your garden?
Our thoughts should have a positive outcome on our lives. Unfortunately, a lot of the time negative thoughts take over our gardens. Weeds of anxiety, depression, heartbreak, confusion, and more take root in our minds. If you are struggling, I know how you feel. You want to rip out all of the weeds and feel peace. But it won't work.
It's not easy to clear our gardens of all of the bad things growing inside of them. Right when the weeds of negativity sprout, replace them with seeds of positivity. Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.
True | Think about things that are true. You are enough. You are loved. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God will never leave you nor forsake you. All of these things are true about you!
Noble | Think about things that are noble. Who can you bless today? What can you do to help out your friends and family members? How can you shine the light of Jesus onto everyone you see? These things ae noble.
Right | Think about things that are right. We all know our rights from our wrongs. Don't think about things like how you can bring someone down, or hurt someone's feelings. Don't seek revenge. You know when something is not right, and God sees it too. Even your thoughts.
Pure | Think about things that are pure. An example of something that is pure is God's word. God tells us to meditate on His word by day and by night. Applying His words to our thoughts can make a huge difference in our lives and in the gardens of our minds!
Lovely | Think about things that are lovely. Whatever that may be for you. For me it's something like getting lost in awe of God's creations. He made the stars that shine in the sky at night, and He knows them by name. He made plants, and an incredible way for them to grow in nature. He made animals, and gave them instincts so that they can survive. The list goes on and on! Think about what is lovely to you.
Admirable | Think about things that are admirable. Once again, this is something that is probably different for everyone. I know for me, things that are admirable are courage, kindness, love, thankfulness, and contentment. Those are only a few, and I could name many more. Whatever your list contains is up for you to decide!
Excellent | Think about things that are excellent. Excellence can be found is many different things. From the thought of knowing God has the knowledge to know how many grains of sand are on all of the beaches in the whole world, to the feeling of having people that love and care for you. I encourage you to take a minute to explore where you can find excellence.
Praiseworthy | Think about things that are praiseworthy. This is one of my favorite words God used in Philippians 4:8 to describe what we should think about. This is where victory comes in. This is where something so amazing happens that you want to stop everything you are doing to praise God and thank Him for it! To me this is when I think about how far God has carried me, how through everything I've been through He never once left my side. How I am being healed from my anxiety right before my eyes. How my Nanna that was battling cancer is now cancer-free. How my youngest brother that was once a foster child is now adopted into our family and has a safe forever home. All of these things are SO praiseworthy.
When thinking about all of the things mentioned above, you are too occupied for those negative thoughts to creep in. You're too busy planting flowers in your garden. All of those weeds need to find a different garden to take root in, because they aren't aloud in yours.
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