Transforming Words

One of the greatest challenges that we face from day to day is choosing how we will think. It was the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD), who summed up this challenge in eight simple words – words that can change your life: “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” King Solomon said something similar when writing the Proverbs: “For as a man thinks within himself, so he is” (23:7, NAS). It naturally follows that the way you think is directly related to how you will feel. In other words, if you think happy thoughts, you will be happy. If you think depressing, miserable thoughts, then you will feel miserable. There is always a connection between thought and feeling.

The great English poet, John Milton (1608-1674), who lived in the seventeenth century, discovered the truth of these eight words when he said, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.” Startling words, are they not? And yet, if you reflect on what Milton is saying, I’m sure you will agree that our thoughts will determine the kind of life we will live. In fact, both Napoleon and the writer, Helen Keller, are perfect examples of this. Napoleon once wrote at the height of his influence, power and life of riches, “I have never known six happy days in my life;” while Keller – blind, deaf and dumb – declared: “I have found life so beautiful.”

The apostle Paul said “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Rom. 12:2, NLT). He also said to the Ephesians, “there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes” (4:23, NLT). Clearly, Paul makes a connection between becoming a new person and the way you choose to think. This is why Christians should be people who think positively, who contemplate the bright side of life, and who seek to bring out the best in others by encouraging a good mental attitude. 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.” Therefore, let us remember: “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”