New Thinking for a New Identity
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)
I believe it is worth pointing out, especially as we look at this verse, that the original manuscripts of the Bible did not contain punctuation. There were no commas or semicolons, or anything like that. The punctuation that we see in the Bible was added by the translators. Most of the time, it is well done and adds to the understanding of the Scriptures, but in the case of this verse, the punctuation is not beneficial to us.
Let’s take the comma in this verse and place it after the word thinks instead of after heart. It drastically changes how we understand the verse. Now it reads:
For as he thinks, in his heart so is he. Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV) punctuation adjusted
Wow, what a difference that small change makes in the meaning! Now we see that what we think about ourselves affects what we believe in our hearts and affects who we are. This means that our thoughts drive our lives.
There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:33 (NKJV) emphasis mine
The children of Israel saw themselves as slaves, as losers, as small and powerless. As a result, that is how they were viewed by the inhabitants of the promised land. That negative belief kept an entire generation from receiving the blessed life God had for them. To change ourselves and our lives, we have to change what we think and believe. How we see ourselves is how we will act and ultimately determines who we become as individuals. It’s the thoughts that count.
What we think about becomes what we believe. What we believe becomes what we say. What we say produces what we have and experience (Mark 11:23). So, to make any change to what we have and what we are experiencing in life, we must change what we think. How do we do that?
How we think and what we currently believe about ourselves is the product of what we have been exposed to. Many of us carry beliefs about ourselves based on words spoken to us in childhood or by experiences we have had in the past. What we are exposed to, especially on a repetitive or continual basis, directly impacts our self-image and what we really think about ourselves. If our parents, teachers, or others said things to us like, “You’re stupid,” “You’re ugly,” “You can’t do anything right,” or “You’ll never amount to anything,” it affected our thoughts. We likely received their statements and began to think on them. And as we thought on them, we began to believe them. And we’ve just learned that what we believe is what we become. No wonder so many people feel stuck and have no sense of self-worth... our thoughts have been sabotaged!
To change our mindset, we must change what is coming into our minds through our eyes, ears, etc. This means we need to turn from things that don’t put beneficial thoughts in us and turn to things that do. Being in the Word, hearing good teaching and preaching, and listening to uplifting Christian music is a good way to begin to do this. As we get in the Word, we start to remember the verses we read, which then affects how we talk. When the Word of God is in our hearts, it comes out of our mouths and impacts our lives.
The Word of God renews our mind (Romans 12:2), changing the way we think. When our thoughts line up with the Word, we get the results that the Word promises. It even changes who we are because we believe what the Bible says about us rather than what other people have told us. When it comes to victorious living, it’s really the thoughts that count.
