Posts Tagged: substituting good thoughts for bad ones
DTEB, “A NEW CARD GAME: MENTAL GOLF”
Thursday, December 20, 2018
I have not been happy with my thought life for the past couple of days. My thoughts have not been entirely off the rails, but many of my thoughts have not been God-honoring thoughts, either. Gluttonous thoughts, excessively angry and fearful thoughts, lustful thoughts, envious thoughts, worried thoughts, self-pitying thoughts—what a messy mind I have at times! I wonder why I have so many problems with my mind? Or is really helpful to ask why?
Perhaps I should stop asking why, and instead play a sort-of mental “golf” card game. Golf—when you’re talking about cards—is a game for two or more persons. The goal is to have the lowest score possible (or, at least, a lower score than your opponent/s). Hence the name “golf.”
In golf, you are dealt four cards. There is a “stock deck” in the middle of the table, which you cannot see, of course. You take turns substituting higher point cards in your hand for the cards in the stock deck. Sometimes you substitute a high-point card for an even higher point card, but that is the chance you take. Eventually, someone raps on the table, people reveal their cards, and the person with the lowest total points wins.
What if I regarded my thought life as a game of golf? What if I envisioned the stock deck as face up and spread out, so that I could see the point values of the various cards? Then, I could substitute a bad card in my hand for a better one from the stock deck.
When it comes to my thoughts, I can generally discern which ones are life-affirming and which ones are not. If I am aware and honest, I know what cards I have in my mind. And the good cards in the stock deck are face up.
Eventually, Death raps his knuckles on the table, and the game is over. I want to have the lowest possible score.
In a sense, the analogy is helpful to me. It turns my thought life into a game. I am much better at having fun with serious things, than I am at being serious about serious things.
In another sense, the analogy is not in line with what I believe at all. I believe that God forgives me of all my sins—even my bad thought life. In a sense, God doesn’t keep score. “If iniquities you kept, O LORD, O Lord, who could stand? But with you is forgiveness, in order that you may be feared.” (Psalm 130:3-4, my translation)
But I still want to honor God with my thoughts, as well as with my words and actions. Better thoughts will not only honor God, but also will be better for me. Better thoughts will also be good for everyone with whom I come into contact.
Today, I will play mental golf. Care to join me?
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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