As a mom of three young kids, I can easily tell that my thoughts directly impact the little (and big) people in my life. I believe thoughts are like the air, you cannot see them, but our thoughts can be felt by those around us. How we think about people, or what we are thinking about in general, has a profound effect on the way we treat others and how they feel when they are with us.
Psalm 139:23 reads "Search me O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!".
Our thoughts have a significant impact on our lives. The Bible repeatedly talks about allowing God to change us from within.
A few months ago, I began to challenge myself to love people with my thoughts. To think intentionally about a person in my life, the good qualities I admire in them, good memories we share and the good things they have done for me. At first, I picked the people I found the easiest and then whenever a negative thought about someone popped into my head, I would intentionally stop and ask God to help me have loving, compassionate, gracious thoughts instead.
It has not been easy. I am amazed at some of the thoughts that cross my head! I mean sometimes they are just mean and unkind.
Another challenging area I discovered was my thoughts about myself. Many times, they were mean and unkind too! I had to learn to love myself better if I wanted to love others better. To give myself grace and others grace for failure, hurt, unforgiveness, disappointment or just stuff. To give myself compassion and others compassion during times of stress, change, illness, suffering or tiredness. The only way we can do that is to lean on God. To take these thoughts moment by moment, day by day and surrender them to him and exchange them for a new heart that is soft and tender. It’s not a one-time exchange, it’s a daily routine.
My son has this wonderful way of looking at me and saying, “Smile at me, Mom.” And he has a big smile himself. All he is looking for is a smile of acceptance - a smile that says I love you just the way you are, I am proud of you no matter what happens, and I will always love you. I look at him and my heart and mind and face smile when I am pleased with him. There are times when I don’t approve of what he is doing, and I need to take a moment and say moms not happy about that but smile back letting him know my acceptance and love has not changed.
I wonder what our lives would look like if we could grace others and ourselves with that kind of a smile of acceptance? For me, it begins with loving thoughts that create a welcoming space that can be felt without having to say much.
A light soul is built of many loving thoughts. Join me on this journey by challenging yourself to choose a person each day and spend a few minutes to think of all the positive qualities that you enjoy about them, what you like about their appearance and the good things they have done for you, happy memories you may share with them and smile!
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