SPAM

“Wealth exploding secret,” “Restore your hair-just four weeks,” “Laser fungus removal.” Every day I receive spam like this and more. It clutters up my phone and fills up my email so when I receive the unwanted correspondence, I have to “unsubscribe.”

Our thoughts can be like Spam as well.

Negative thoughts.

Angry thoughts.

Worried thoughts.

Depressed thoughts.

Often times there are so many unhealthy thoughts that clutter up our mind’s inbox, we can’t weed through the bad thoughts to find the good.

How do we overcome the Spam in our mind?

Just like we have to intentionally unsubscribe to spam email, we have to intentionally unsubscribe to the Spam thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (KJV) Sometimes the Spam thoughts that fill up our brains can change the way we carry ourselves, the way we treat others, and can steal our joy.

So when we have spam thoughts like:

“I’m not loved.” Unsubscribe.

“I’m not appreciated.” Unsubscribe.

 “I have no purpose.” Unsubscribe.

We also have to filter our Spam through the Word of God. Remember Ephesians 3:17-19: “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

God says we are loved and appreciated, and Spam thoughts have no place in the mind of a beloved child of God.

In Philippians 4:8, scripture also says we should think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely or admirable.

We need to ask ourselves each time Spam enters our minds. Is it right? Is it lovely? Is it admirable? Is it real or perceived? If it’s perceived, let’s ask God to help us give the person or situation troubling us, the benefit of the doubt. We can toss and turn at night when we’ve perceived that someone has wronged us.

What Spam thoughts do you need to get rid of? Be intentional. Take them one by one and unsubscribe. Clean up the negative clutter, then the positive will have more room to breathe in our inbox. The result will be a happier, more loving, and content you. (LBW)