Poor Thinking

I have a bookmark that lists 31 biblical virtues to pray for your kids, which gives me something to pray for every day of each month. During our morning Bible time, we also pray these virtues for the five Compassion children that we sponsor.






Did you catch the last thing Eugene said in this video?

"At the end of the day, sometimes poverty is really in the mind."

Have you ever stopped to ponder how many times you start a sentence with, "I think..." ? Our opinions are important to us, and our point of view shapes how we perceive our world in general and our needs in specific. It's no wonder that the Bible tells us to take our thoughts captive and make them obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

We often think we lack so much, and we tend to focus upon what we think we lack, so our words and our behavior issue forth from a mentality of "poverty." Instead of dwelling upon the myriad blessings the Lord has lavished upon us, all we can see is that "little more" it will take to make us content.

One of the virtues on my prayer bookmark is contentment. What a contrast it is for me to pray for my children to have contentment (who live in amazing luxury compared to the children in slums in Africa) -- and then to pray for my sponsored children to be content, who may not have a toilet or electricity in their home, which may be made of mud.

What Eugene said is very profound. Our thoughts do control how we see ourselves, whether we see blessings or deprivation.

Tomorrow's virtue is gratitude. I am praying that all of my children will be grateful for the blessings God has given them, and that their thanksgiving will drive all poor thinking from their minds.