"The diseases of the mind are more destructive than those of the body."
- Cicero
A lady in our congregation was struggling emotionally and found herself in the psychiatric wing of the hospital. I went to see her and during the course of our visit she said to me, “Pastor Dan, my mind is filled with crazy things and I think I am going insane.” She described the thoughts she was thinking. It was amazing but I had thought some of the same thoughts. “Dear Lady,” I said, “there’s a vein of insanity running through each of us. You’re not crazy and the only difference between you and me is that you choose to listen to, and accept the thoughts that I choose to reject and ignore. If I did everything that went through my mind, I’d be a madman.” Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, “Casting down imaginations [arguments] and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Although we’re not responsible for every thought we think; we are responsible for what we do with every thought we think.
Why do we have bad thoughts? And why do we think about things we don’t want to think about? We can thank Adam and Eve for that scar. Humanity inherited a corrupt nature from them. Wrongdoing stained the heart of our fore parents. That stain was permanent. They passed it on to the entire human race. This explains the vein of insanity running through our lives. Christian Nevell Bovee spoke the truth, “It is the nature of thought to find its way into action.” Violence and perversion have become a form of entertainment in today’s world – thanks to our nature, violence and perversion find its way into the places where we live. W.R. Inge said, “The soul is dyed the color of its leisure.” What is our hope? Change your thoughts and you change your world (Norman Vincent Peale). It all begins right between our ears—our life is what our thoughts make it.
But if we are going to succeed in our attempt at changing the way we think, we must deal with our nature. The Apostle Paul declared, “If anyone is in Christ he or she is a new creation; old things [the thoughts we entertain] have passed away; and all things have become new.” When we accept Jesus as our Savior the Holy Spirit enters our heart and His influence transforms every aspect of our being: our nature, our thoughts, our words and our actions.