You have heard the saying, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23, NIV). Nothing could be as true. Your mindset determines your life-set. Have you ever wondered where weeds come from? If care has not been taken to avoid their growth, weeds seem to spring up any and everywhere. It’s another evidence that nature abhors vacuum. If you refuse to plant intentionally, something will grow unintentionally. It’s that simple. I looked up the definition of ‘weeds’ and I came up with this: “A plant, especially a wild plant, growing where it is not wanted.”2
Some articles I read say weeds come from seeds that may have been carried by the wind or transported somehow to the land in question. The crux of the matter is that these plants are not wanted by whomever owns the land.
Our Minds: Our Farmland
Your mind is the farmland of your life. Whatever you grow in your heart is manifested in your life. The quality of your life is directly related to the quality of your thoughts.
Your heart bears the seeds of the tree of your life. If your heart is responsible for the quality of your life, then care must be taken to ensure that the right seeds are planted and cultivated.
Your eyes, ears, and sometimes our noses, are gateways to your minds. Your senses are constantly bombarded with information. Most of these pieces of information have been carefully designed to influence our decisions. Big consumer-product companies know that screaming from the rooftop will not get you to buy their products, so they have carefully designed publicity campaigns that plant seeds in your mind. These seeds are of a desirable lifestyle that makes the purchase of their products seem necessary.
Memories, ideas, suggestions and experiences are engraved in our minds; introduced into our hearts by our senses.
Positive And Negative Charges
Think of information as positive and negative charges. Any information that plants seeds that yields actions aside those that please God and lead to a wholesome lifestyle can be classified as negative. Depression, suicides, sexual perversions, worry and strife are all fruits of negatively-charged seeds. On the other hand, any seeds that produce a life filled with joy, peace, love, wisdom, wealth, excellence and fulfillment are positively-charged seeds. These are the seeds we need to intentionally plant and groom in our minds.
A study in Physics, suggests that to have a neutral mindset—not a positive just yet—you need to have a steady stream of positively-charges seeds to cancel out the constant stream of the negative charges we encounter on a daily basis. And if you are going to move from just cancelling out negative charges to living a positive life-giving life, you must consciously seek to plant many more positive seeds in your heart. This is an active non-stop duty.
Renew Your Mind
Your mind is not like your computer screen that you can refresh with a simple F5 tap. There has to be a conscious effort to fill your mind with thoughts that produce the kind of life-results you want.
Read books, listen to songs, watch movies and be in the company of people who encourage a positive and healthy mindset. It’s easy to be drowned in the sea of negative charges out there. The sensuality and sexuality portrayed at any given opportunity, needed or not, doesn’t help matters. And to top it off, these weeds grow easier and faster than the real deal. It’s time to do some weeding and planting.
How To Renew Your Mind
Consciously think good thoughts. Push through every negativity and think on things that make for a better life.Speak life to yourself. It is scientifically proven that words influence your physical and mental state. Speak your future and dream to yourself.Censor what you look at and listen to. You might seem like a child amongst your peers, but you are shaping your life. That’s what counts.
In Summary…Keep Off!
It is mandatory that you setup walls and filters in and around your mind. You cannot afford to allow weeds to grow and blossom on your farmland. You have to weed, and where necessary, uproot. Only positive seeds can be allowed to grow. If you need to change the TV channel, or get up and leave the room, let nothing hold you back. If you need to stop your subscription to a magazine, do it. If you need to use parental controls for your web pages, employ it. Change your company of friends if you have to do so.
We have a choice: to plow new ground or let the weeds grow. Jonathan Westover
Do what you must to ensure you are thoroughly saturated with life-giving words, pictures and suggestions, do so because the battle for your mind must be won if the battle for your life will be.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 (NLT)