Penny For Your Thoughts

9 min read6 days ago

My grandpa used to say this to me when I was quiet. It was kind of annoying because I was often quiet. Plus, at the time, I didn’t really want to share my thoughts with anyone. Ironically, I now share my thoughts in blog articles with everyone and no one has even offered me a penny for them.

Our thoughts are worth more than a penny though.

The thought world we maintain is a very important part of us. Whatever is in our thought world impacts our speech life, our relationships, and our overall well-being. And this means it is of the utmost importance that we rigorously and intentionally guard and guide our thoughts.

This isn’t a hard-to-explain or understand concept. Just consider those times when you think about the words someone said to you in anger. You get upset and hurt again. And then, you begin to rehearse those words over and over in your thoughts until you spiral into bitterness, self-loathing, and fuming hatred of that someone, and possibly, yourself. Nothing good came of those thoughts.

Now, do the opposite. Think about the words someone used to encourage you. Ponder those for a few hours and tell me how you feel and behave. It’s very different, isn’t it?

Here’s the thing, you’re going to hear both complimentary and critical words throughout your life, you’re going to see positive and negative stories on your newsfeed, and you’re going to experience ups and downs every year. These will all swirl around in your head and try to dominate your thought life, but you get to guard and guide your thoughts. I’m not saying this is easy, but I am saying it is possible. I’m also saying this is the best thing for you; well, technically God is saying that.

Where to Begin?

I have no claims to be an expert at guarding and guiding my thought life; I still struggle. What I am sharing here are some Biblical steps I’ve learned that help me when negative and debilitating thoughts want to dominate me. Sometimes I walk through these steps dozens of times each hour.

Think of God

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us”¹

When you begin the process of rigorously and intentionally guarding and guiding your thoughts, you must begin with God in mind. Only when we view God properly can we view anything else properly. When we spend time thinking about God, His attributes, His promises, and His goodness toward us, we find the peace to make it through tough situations and relationships.

Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

What should we think about God? Obviously, I can’t make an all-encompassing list, but here are a few things to get you started.

God Is Just — He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. Deuteronomy 32:4
God Is Good — The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. Psalm 145:9
God Is In Control — …the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will… Daniel 4:17

Think of Yourself

No, I’m not advocating for selfishness. I am simply saying that you need to think of yourself the way God does. He has a lot to say about you and me. When we meditate on what He says about us, it brings a lot of peace and confidence. It can settle internal issues, it can resolve outward conflict, and it can transform lives.

When I meditate on God’s perspective of me, I think of these three things:

God Sees Me

Think about the stories of Hagar and the Samaritan woman. God saw these women who were outcasts, and yet, came directly to them. His interactions with these women showed them that He saw them. When he engaged in conversation with them, he showed them that he saw their hurts, their struggles, their thoughts, and their personhood.

Being seen is such an important thing in human relationships. So, when you feel unseen by the rest of the world, know that God sees you just as he saw these two women.

Read their stories and notice how this one truth, revealed to them, changed numerous lives.

God Loves Me

The love of God is more than words. Yes, he has spoken about his love, but he has also shown it in action. He defines love for us and gives it to us without gaslighting or love-bombing us into a relationship with him. Rather than flattering us one day and scolding us with generic criticisms the next, he tells us the truth every day and walks with us as he makes us more like Jesus. Real love is tough stuff, but necessary for growth.

If you want to understand what real love is go ponder the story of the prodigal son* in Luke 15. This is the love God gives each of us every day and there’s so much about love that we don’t understand.

God Gives Me Purpose

I relish this thought about God. I don’t want to live a life of mediocrity or wishful thinking; I want a life with purpose. God knows that; in fact, He created us with the desire for a purposeful life and He knows what will satisfy that desire in each individual. He has shaped you and me uniquely for a very important and specific purpose, and knowing Him and walking with Him daily reveals and accomplishes that purpose.

Think of the Good

Focusing on the good things found in nature with my family

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Let’s be real here: this verse can seem tedious to read. The repetition of whatsoever things is wearisome, to me, at least. All that aside, this verse is amazing. When you are trying to guard and guide your thought life, this is where to begin. When you’re thinking a negative thought, replace it, with something true, honest, just, pure, etc.

Now, the negative thought might come back in the next fifteen minutes, so be ready to counter it again. Just don’t give up. That negative thought will start coming around less often, and maybe eventually it will disappear. Then, you’ll have replaced it with a bunch of wonderful thoughts that you can ponder for the rest of your life.

My Philippians 4:8 thoughts are probably going to be different than yours, but here are a few things I regularly put out to counter negative thoughts:

God has given me an extremely kind husband and a son who makes getting up in the morning worthwhile. Not to mention all the other wonderful family and friends in my life.
The best chai latte and GF chocolate chip cookies do exist. Sadly, they exist eight states apart from each other.
I have been able to travel to a lot of amazing places.
Only 5% of Göbekli Tepe has been uncovered. This means there is more incredibly fascinating stuff to find. I’m super excited to hear about anything new. Perhaps, I can get brave enough to visit that part of the world.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to study archaeology under some awesome professors at The Bible Seminary.

Those are very personal to me, but they are the kind of thoughts that counter negative thoughts in my mind. I suggest that you jot down a few of yours and keep them nearby so you can look at them when you’re struggling.

Think of Others

By the time you reach this point, you should have gone through the other steps. If you skip to this point directly, it won’t work very well. You need to know who God is, who you are in truth, the blessings in your life, and then, how to think of others. Without the foundation of God, you cannot view yourself properly, or even care to think of others with love and kindness.

Here’s the rub: Everything that God says is true of you (He sees you, He loves you, He has a purpose for you) is true of everyone else too. So, when we are mistreated or harshly spoken to, we are still required to view that person as God does.

Did I say this was easy? NO!

In fact, living this way is impossible. That is why we must begin with God. When Jesus saw people, he had compassion on them, and we must as well. When people mistreated Jesus, he did not mistreat them in return, and we are asked to do so as well.

No, I don’t care for it either, but it is so much better to live giving grace and forgiveness than giving constant retaliation. That’s just exhausting. Plus, that type of life creates an environment of fear, broken relationships, and a lack of purpose. That equates to a life completely contrary to what God wants for us.

Before you walk away and give up on this step, I want to remind you that this is the step that changes the world. If you want to be the change for good in this world, keep this in mind. Thinking of others is the step that takes the transformation from your inside world (thoughts) to your outside world (actions).

Some things to consider when we think of others:

The hurtful and slanderous things people say about us are known by God and they will have to give account for them. God will take care of this.
I can just as easily mistreat someone else. I am not above making relational mistakes and someday I may need forgiveness myself.
Prayer changes people. Spend some time praying for the difficult people in your life, and someone will change. Maybe it’s just you, but one never knows.
God uses people, even the difficult ones, to make us better:

“The people in my life are not there by accident. They, too, are instruments in the hand of my Redeemer. Through them, he continues the work he has begun in me…God is sovereign over my relationships…These relationships are a means by which God continues his work. The struggles they bring are not meaningless hassles or irritating obstacles to an otherwise happy life. No, they are there because God is covenantally committed to bring us to maturity, to ‘attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph.4:12).”²

Food for Thought

Your thought life is worth more than a penny. What is it worth? It’s worth the fight. So, fight those negative and untrue thoughts. It’s worth your time. So, spend time meditating on the things that bring real peace. It’s worth your life. So, give your life to the pursuit of guiding and guarding your thoughts.