How healthy is my thought life?

Do I let things get to me?

Do I let them get in my head?

Am I allowing (entertaining) too many toxic thoughts?

Genesis 6:5 — The Lord saw that the people on the earth were very evil. He saw that they thought only about evil things all the time.

Proverbs 15:26 — The Lord hates evil thoughts, but he is pleased with kind words.

Ecclesiastes 9:3 — Of all the things that happen in this life, the worst thing is that all people end life the same way. But it is also very bad that people always think evil and foolish thoughts. And those thoughts lead to death.

Romans 1

21 People knew God, but they did not honor him as God, and they did not thank him. Their ideas were all useless. There was not one good thought left in their foolish minds.

26 Because people did those things, God left them and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. Women stopped having natural sex with men and started having sex with other women.

27 In the same way, men stopped having natural sex with women and began wanting each other all the time. Men did shameful things with other men, and in their bodies they received the punishment for those wrongs.

28 People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed them to have their own worthless thinking. And so they do what they should not do.

29 They are filled with every kind of sin, evil, greed, and hatred. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst things about each other. They gossip

30 and say evil things about each other. They hate God. They are rude, proud, and brag about themselves. They invent ways of doing evil. They don’t obey their parents,

31 they are foolish, they don’t keep their promises, and they show no kindness or mercy to others.

32 They know God’s law says that anyone who lives like that should die. But they not only continue to do these things themselves, but they also encourage others who do them.

Ecclesiastes 10:2 — The thoughts of the wise lead them the right way, but the thoughts of the foolish lead them the wrong way.

Neurological Pathways

If you allow anger and fear to dominate, you will lose the neurological ability to think logically and act compassionately toward others. It is nearly impossible to find peace and serenity if your mind is preoccupied by negative, anxious, or hateful thoughts.

Your thoughts clearly affect the neurological functioning of your body.

Optimism is essential for maintaining a healthy brain.

Positive thoughts neurologically suppress negative thoughts.

Watching violence on the news, or taking in a violent movie, will make you feel more angry, aggressive, negative, and powerless. The same thing happens in your brain when you listen to songs with hostile lyrics, even if they are presented in a humorous way.

A meta-analytic view of video-game research found that “violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults.

Our brains are designed to mimic the emotional expression of others. This is known as “emotional contagion”. When you see an angry expression, it takes less than one second for your brain to respond with fear.

Negative remarks and memories are more strongly encoded in the brain, and they are the most difficult memories to eradicate.

Simply being around negative people will make you more prejudiced, because listening to negative opinions can easily undermine your positive opinions about virtually anything.

My two cents on Swift. Unsaved in college, I loved Taylor Swift. I knew every word to Red and all the other albums too. Her music is intoxicating bc she’s done a very good job capturing worldly relationships and hookup culture.

Now, as a believer– I stay far away from it. Why? Because I will like some of it. It will take my mind places that it shouldn’t go. There will be new lyrics in my head with tunes I can’t shut off with unedifying words on my lips.

Hebrews 3:12 — So, brothers and sisters, be careful that none of you has the evil thoughts that cause so much doubt that you stop following the living God.

Poise in the noise!

Psalm 119:112 — I have made up my mind to obey your laws forever, no matter what.

(CEV)

Psalm 119:112 — I have resolved to obey your laws forever, at every step.

(CJB)

Psalm 119:112 — I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.

(KJV)