Colossians 3:15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
My Thoughts
We are called to "live in peace and always be thankful." The best way to live in peace is to think only good thoughts about others. To look past their faults and to see their good. If we have a thought about somebody else that is questionable... all we have to do is ask ourselves "Would I want somebody to have that thought about me." Anger and upset comes from our thoughts. We like to believe it comes from other people actions...but in reality it comes from what we think about another persons actions. We often become angry an hour later, a day later... because we dwell on a bad thought about somebody else. We always loose the peace in our own hearts and mind before we start taking away the peace of the people around us. God calls us to be better than that... we can be better than that if we fix our thoughts on what is is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). We have to make an effort to fix our thoughts.
We are called to be thankful....not sometimes ... not in the morning or at night but to always be thankful. When we go around looking for things to be thankful for.. we are too busy to harbor bad thoughts. I use to think how can I be thankful all day long... because I fixed my thoughts on what was wrong in my day instead of what was right in my day. There is so much to be thankful for in my life...so much! I read once that because of all our modern conveniences, today we live life like people that years and years ago had 100 servants. Think about it...we just flip a switch and have heat and air... yes we have to go to work to pay for it...but we don't have to come home and then chop the wood. We get to come home and watch TV. We don't have to dig a well. We don't have to hang our our rugs and beat them and beat them... there is so much that we have to be thankful for simple because of the time we live in and the country that we live in. Those are just the tip of the iceberg.. that is the things we can visibly see. What about the things we feel, like love, friendships, peace and joy? Those are amazing things to be thankful for. Forgiveness. Wow all the blessings in just one hour. So often we can stop the devil in his tracks when he tries to steal our joy... just by being thankful! When the devil reminds us of something we did wrong, we can look to heaven and say "Thank you God for forgiving me and teaching me better." If we use the devils words as a reminder of how wonderful God is... he is sure to leave us alone and quit reminding us of our past if we use it for good instead of letting him get away with robbing our joy. Then if somebody does something that hurts our feelings or makes us upset... what if we used that moment to stop and think about whatever is noble and right and lovely and admirable about that person? What if we stopped a minute and was thankful that that person was in our lives? Then the devil would surely stop using them against us. Most important we need to be so totally aware of ALL that God has done for us...and all that God does for us each day. When we become acutely aware of all the gifts that we have been given we can't help but have a good day... Yes, bad days will come along but when we have spent time knowing and being aware of all that God has done for us... we will better know, we will be better aware of how God has helped us in the past and how God will help us in our most difficult moments. Thankfulness is for us, when we learn to be thankful, we learn not to look over all that we have. All that God ask of us is ask of us for our good. Thankfulness puts our mind on good... when our mind is on good we are stronger and better equipped to handle the world.
If it takes setting our alarms on our phones or our watches at 30 minute intervals to remind ourselves to stop and be thankful, that is just what we should do. Thankfulness alone will change our world in amazing ways. When we fix dinner we take time, we make an effort, we think about and do. Fix-ing dinner takes awareness and effort. Fix-ing our thoughts on thankfulness...well that is way worth the awareness and effort.
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