As a man thinks in his heart … so is he!!!

I heard John Maxwell say, and I agree that “the greatest gap between successful and unsuccessful people is the thinking gap.” I have come to realize that the way a man thinks truly is who he is no matter how much he desires to be something else. It does not matter how he describes himself, his decisions are a product of the way he thinks and his thought process is a function of what he truly believes despite what he may wish his belief is. It is not so much what happens around a person or what the person is taught but what the person chooses to permit to alter their mind. No wonder God focuses on transforming our thought process.

Proverbs 4: 23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

It is tough to alter one’s mindset. If we do not deliberately work on the way we think and/or process things before reaching a decision, we won’t change and unfortunately, as long as we keep thinking in the same way, we can only get the same results. Even if you attempt to do things differently a couple of times, you will eventually revert to your old self if you do not alter your thinking despite all your desire to be different. It is stupidity to think you are different when you still think in the same way. So when God shows us who we ought to be, we have to work to align our thinking with the image He has shown.

Romans 12: “but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

God shows or tells you, you see it or hear Him and then walk in it. God’s decision to lift us up may or may not come to pass depending on the way we choose to think. Despite God’s strong desire to make things happen in our lives, we have a responsibility to take in the word that would alter our minds to accommodate the manifestation of the promises. God has made available all the word we need to ensure our minds are in sync with His; we just have to search them out. Change in mental attitude is tough but how can we get the benefits we seek so desperately and have been given for us without this change?   

It is true that the cost of this change may sometimes appear steep but the long term benefits make it worth the pain; and anyway sometimes this high cost include silly things like loss of some friends since we may become unacceptable in our circle of friends. Unfortunately, we may never find the new friends God prepared for us until we let of go of some and if there are no new ones after you let go, maybe your friends are too many for your next level. 

There is also the danger of being perceived differently, usually “less cool”, which may translate to having less people running around you because people are often looking out for the next “cool” thing to run around. Don’t worry; at some point in life, you will no longer be cool so make the decision when it pays you. What is truly sad is when we are foolish enough to believe that we can remain our old selves and yet operate from a higher level. God requires a higher level of responsibility for a higher role.