Not only do you have the permission to screen your thoughts, the Bible explicitly commands you to.”
Maybe you should add a customs agent to the routine, as long as you are at it.
Purpose of your trip? How long do you intend to stay in the country?
Not only do you have the permission to screen your thoughts, the Bible explicitly commands you to:“ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy— meditate on these things”( Philippians 4:8). Paul recommended that you have a filter in your head— a screening process that you pass thoughts through before you let them come in and make themselves comfortable. Are you true? Well... not really. Sorry, you are denied entry. Are you noble? Obviously not. How about pure? Yeah, you’ re not getting in here. Would you be described as lovely? Definitely not. Buh-bye.
I love the last part of that verse as it is rendered in The Message: only allow into your mind“ the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”
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Not only do you have the permission to screen your thoughts, the Bible explicitly commands you to.”
Can you even imagine how much of a game changer it would be if, as you drove the kids to soccer, did laundry, walked to third period, led a staff meeting, ran on the treadmill, or waited to fall asleep, you allowed into your mind“ only the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly”? Would you even recognize the peace-filled person you had become?
A study back in the 1980s revealed that people have on average 500 intrusive thoughts every 16 hours, each lasting an average of 14 seconds. Many of these intrusions are just worries or anxious thoughts; 18 percent are mean, unacceptable, or politically incorrect— and 13 percent are ugly or downright shocking: shoving a stranger off the subway platform, running over a pedestrian, stabbing a partner, raping
Solutions • 23