Tattoos on the Mind?

In his book entitled Power of the Plus Factor, the late Norman Vincent Peale (pictured at right) tells of the time when he was walking along the twisted little streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong and came upon a tattoo shop. Displayed in the window were the different types of tattoos that were available for people to have drawn onto their arms and chests. But what struck Dr. Peale was one tattoo that simply said, “Born to lose.” Going inside the shop, he asked the tattoo artist, “Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, Born to lose, tattooed on his or her body.”

The tattoo artist replied, “Yes, sometimes.”
“But,” Dr. Peale said, “I just can’t believe that anyone in his right mind would do that.”
The man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, “Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind.”

It should be clear to all of us that the way we think will determine how we feel and ultimately, it will determine how we will react to life’s circumstances. The way we think determines whether we react to events with faith or fear, trust or anxiety, optimism or pessimism. It always comes down to what is imprinted upon your mind! Pehaps that is why the apostle Paul pointed out that we need to be “transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind – by its new ideals and its new attitudes” (Rom. 12:2, AMP). It is important for us to look at this verse closely, for it tells us that our attitudes do not come from our circumstances or past history, but they emerge from within. They are the result of the way you and I choose to think. This means the first and most important element in embracing inner change is to actually set in motion a whole new package of positive, faith-filled thoughts. In fact, it comes down to the principle of sowing and reaping. Whatever I sow mentally, that is what I will reap.

Real change starts with you and me when we decide to plant thoughts in our minds that will produce a positive, faith-filled life that God can use to change the world in which we live. As Keri Jones has written in his little booklet entitled The Bright Side of Life, “We need to know that we all rise or fall, go forward or backward, succeed or fail, according to what we think. This is why we need to think good things about ourselves and others.” Let the seeds of good thinking be yours today!