About 6 years ago, I knew the things I was doing was wrong and I was ready for a clean slate. I couldn’t escape my thoughts and they were ruling over me. I was caught up in some bad things and felt like my mind was my prison. The only thing standing between me and freedom were my thoughts.
I turned to read the books: “Soul Detox” by Craig Groeschel and “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer (links below). I quit listening to music that I realized was deeply affecting me. I quit going to the places I was going and cut off ties with people that were helping me continue down a bad path.
One of the most significant things that helped me conquer my thought life was the verse below, Philippians 4:8. Every time I had a bad or evil thought, I would immediately start reciting the verse below to myself.
”Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV
This verse tells us exactly how to overcome bad thoughts. Think on good things instead, put into practice what God wants us to do, and He promises us peace. I’m not going to lie, it was very difficult to detox but with persistence, I did.
Finally being free from anger wasn’t my own doing or the people mentioned above that wrote the books. God alone was at work convicting and guiding me to a path of freedom through different resources. Below are 4 ways I believe you can remove toxic thoughts from your life too.
- Replace toxic thoughts immediately with good
- Separate yourself from toxic people in your life
- Avoid toxic music and media like it’s the plague – basically everything you watch and listen to
- Read the Bible like it’s food for your starving soul
At the root of every evil action are evil thoughts that went unchecked. It may have started out harmless but it can grow into a huge dirty monster until we defeat it.
People don’t just wake up and decide to do something stupid that will hurt themselves or others. It starts with a thought that they begin to entertain. That thought then springs up into an ugly action.
Our thoughts will guide us into the perfect scenario to carry out the bad or good thing(s) eventually. Then it just gets easier and easier to continue evil if we think on the bad. It becomes a comfortable habit that will destroy us in the end.
You have to come to a place where you decide enough is enough! The closer you come into the light, the more clearly you see the darkness in you. God loves us despite our evilness and sin. He still desires to renew us and give us a life better than we knew was possible. That’s why He died for us.
God makes all things new when we make the choice to surrender our lives to Him. Freedom doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a continual process of renewing our mind every day with His truths.
Six years after my struggle that led to freedom from toxic thoughts, I’m still not perfect. I still have random thoughts that I have to take captive immediately. Good news is that it has gotten easier.
Philippians 4:8 has been written on my heart to help me battle toxic thoughts at the start and win. You’ve got to find what works best for you. It might be another verse or good thought that helps you to correct course with pure thoughts.
Maybe you don’t struggle with your thoughts but know somebody who does. Pray for them and remember these 4 ways to get rid of toxic thoughts to share with them when the time comes.
Remember that our freedom comes from the Lord.
It might have been years since you’ve experienced this freedom but you forgot the taste of it. Or you might be in a place where you need this freedom now. In either case, I encourage you to take a step back to examine your heart and pray the prayer below.
A Prayer For You
Search my heart and know me. Show me any evil way in me and lead me back to You God. Let me be transformed with the renewing of my mind with Your Word. Give me Your thoughts and words. Show me how to reach my full potential in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
If you’ve never made the decision to make Jesus the Lord of your life, click below to find out how. Feel free to connect with me on here by replying or under the contact section if you have any questions or prayer requests.
How To Accept Jesus
Stay hopeful!
4 Comments
This post is so pure and clean… so good and true.
I mean, past life experiences really define us and makes us strong and capable of change.
In the end, everything that happens to us have a reason, and sure, it hurts like never have hurt us before, the heart is sad and the body is numb but in the end only the light will save us.
Yes agreed. We can either learn from our mistakes and experiences or we can be bitter about it. I choose to learn and get better with God’s guiding light.
Not a fan of Joyce Meyer (NAR affiliations) but aside from that, an excellent post, thank you!
Thank you Bruce! God bless!