thought audit

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern], But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda].”

Proverbs 27:6 (AMP)

What kind of person would ever allow an enemy close enough to kiss them? The kind of person who doesn’t know their enemies from their friends. The person who’s allowed their enemies to remain so close, they’re wrongly mistaking “familiarity” for friendliness. When in reality—

Familiar Voices Aren’t Always Friendly Voices.

This is the same type of dilemma we face in our thought-life. Not every thought we have is for our good. In fact, many of our thoughts carry a “hidden agenda” that’s intended to harm us. More specifically, we battle against what the Bible calls “a critical spirit”.

The agenda of a critical spirit is both simple & subtle.

It’s self-serving, self-righteous, and sets itself up as the supreme authority in your mind. It takes pieces of truth & twists them in ways that are unloving, unhelpful, and ultimately distorted. But the voice of the critic is so cunning & deceitful, that without God’s protection, you’ll grow to embrace this voice as your own. Which is why—

You Can’t Underestimate The Influence Of Your Thoughts.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) says:

“We demolish arguments and every pretension [obstacle] that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Every thought you have is sparking a conversation that’s taking place inside your mind. It’s critical to monitor the call-log, to identify who’s doing the talking. This is why God tells us to take every thought to Jesus. Jesus is our Advocate & the Author of Truth. We need His truth to expose any thoughts that are taking us captive. We need to take hold of our thoughts and—

Make Them Obedient To Christ.

A “Good & useful” audit

We have an extremely underrated spiritual attribute at our disposal. But if you’re anything like me, you either think about it the wrong way, or you simply don’t think about it at all. The attribute I’m referring to is kindness.

The Biblical version of kindness is defined as a quality that possesses goodness and usefulness. Everything from God is good & serves a useful purpose, therefore, our thought-life should follow the same pattern.

our thoughts should serve a good & useful purpose.

If your thoughts aren’t rising to the level of usefulness, then they’re falling to the level of harmfulness. Kindness is your auditor, your filter for determining which thoughts are (and are not) keeping you aligned with God’s Will for your life.

As you work through these next 3 questions, you may find some critical roots in a given area. And if you do, don’t get overly critical & “fight fire with fire". Kill ‘em with kindness instead. Allow God’s Truth to begin a new work.

1) Do You Have A True Boundary In Place?

The wrong thoughts are like pests; you’re inevitably going to deal with them. Which is why they should be treated accordingly. In order to properly protect a home, a good exterminator will treat immediately & proactively. He’ll use a chemical solution to get rid of existing problems, and he’ll establish a boundary line around the home.

The boundary protects against future problems.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) says:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

Your thoughts should be equipping you for every good work. Your thoughts should adhere to a boundary of truth, God’s Truth. And when they fail to do so, they should be treated with His solution.

When it comes to our thoughts, we can’t become too comfortable or complacent. We have to constantly ask ourselves, where is this thought coming from? Is this genuinely helpful? Is this from God?

Establish a boundary and—

reinforce it daily.

2) Do Your Thoughts Correct Or Condemn?

The most worthwhile things in life are often packaged with pain. Strength is only gained after breaking muscles down. The joy of a pregnancy is fully experienced after giving birth. And as Corinthians 7:10 (NLT) tells us, there is even a “sorrow” from the Lord that serves a purpose:

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.”

Our spiritual enemy, the accuser, constantly hurls condemnation over us. Often times, these become overwhelming & unbearable thoughts we internalize. These are thoughts that are specifically designed to inflict irredeemable pain—

Pain That Cannot Be Redeemed For Anything Of Good Use.

Whereas God allows us to experience “convicting thoughts”. Out of unconditional love, He allows thoughts that may be difficult & carry some level of pain, but they’re ultimately about correction. His thoughts develop us & keep our feet on the path that leads to life. God-inspired thoughts may not always be free of pain, however—

His Thoughts Are Always Full Of Purpose.

3) Does Your Speech Edify Others?

As a dad with young kids, I often warn my kids not to do certain things because “I don’t want to see them get hurt”. But they’re kids, so what do you think they do? They make dumb choices & end up getting hurt.

Every time that happens, my first impulse is to lecture my kid with some form of an “I told you so”. But is that really the parent I want to be in my kids’ lives? At the end of the day, do I want to be remembered for always being “right” or for always being loving? One of the most important questions we can ask of God is this—

who do you want me to be?

In Matthew 7:3 (BSB), Jesus asks the question, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?” Jesus is calling out those of us who hypocritically look down on others, instead of offering Godly, constructive criticism.

When you share your thoughts, do they edify others? Do your words build people up or do they break them down? Ephesians 4:15 tells us to “speak the truth in love”. 2 Timothy 24-25 urges us to “be kind to everyone…gently instruct those who oppose the truth.”

We’re called to break down barriers. To break down anything that separates people from the goodness of God & one another. But we’re also called to build. In a strength that’s only found in the loving kindness of Christ—

we’re called to edify each other.

What We Need

I was reading a book to my kids one day when I came across an encouraging reminder. In the book, they were describing the dynamic of how lions live. They talked about how lions live in groups (called prides) which are led & protected by the male. The book said that anytime an enemy gets too close, the male lion steps up to defend the pride. Which is exactly what God did for us. When sin came into our world—

God Stepped Forward In Our Defense.

Though sin puts us in direct rebellion to God & makes us His enemies, God didn’t deal with us as His enemies. The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, The Lion of Judah—

Gave His Life For Us.

“Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?”

Romans‬ ‭2:4‬ ‭(AMP)‬‬

Every day is another day in which the extraordinary patience and kindness of God is put on full display. Every day, the Pierced Hands of Jesus Christ are personally extended to us—gently offering to bring us under His Protection and to bring us into His Purpose.

When we accept His helping hand, God’s kindness begins to radically change our thought-life. To radically change our entire life. We’re led away from the old & into the New. We’re transformed as we become conformed to the Perfection of Jesus Christ. Our God offers us the wealth of His Kindness, because—

His Kindness Is Exactly What We need.

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today’s Takeaways

• set a boundary for your thoughts.

• ask god who he’s made you to be.

• embrace the kindness of Christ.

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