Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be

Our emotions generally flow out of our thoughts, and discouraged people tend to think discouraging thoughts.  Worried people tend to think anxious thoughts. The way we live will inevitable be a reflection of the way we think. True change always begins in our mind. “Becoming the best version of yourself, then, rests on one simple directive:  THINK GREAT THOUGHTS!”   If we try to change our emotions by willpower without allowing our thoughts to be changed by the flow of the Spirit, it will not work.  God can change the way we think.  First of all we need to monitor our minds. We need to pay attention to our thoughts and God knows our thoughts better than we do and will help us learn what is going on in our mind from one moment to the next. When a thought comes to us we can ask, are they leading me toward life – towards God’s best version of me? Or in the other direction?  IF it is an anxious thought we know the thought does not come from the Spirit.  “The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Just for today, notice those activities and people that most help you live in the flow of the Spirit. What most blocks the flow? Think great thoughts that lead to life!