Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. [Proverbs 4:23 (NCV)]

We all have an inner voice that often fills us with negative thoughts. It says things like, “You’re not good enough…you’re worthless…you don’t know how to do that…you have nothing to offer…you’re too old or too young or too fat or too weak or too dumb or unlovable.” Those are not God’s words and that’s not God’s voice we’re hearing; it’s Satan’s. What is that inner voice saying to you? Our thoughts run our lives; we must never let those negative thoughts ruin them.

Lord, speak loud and clear to us and drown out any negativity that is whispering in our ears.

Change your thoughts and you change your world. [Norman Vincent Peale]

Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right. [From “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch]

If you are angry, don’t sin by nursing your grudge. Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry – get over it quickly; for when you are angry you give a mighty foothold to the devil. [Ephesians 4:26-27 (TLB)]

Sometimes we get angry and, occasionally, that anger is justified. After all, Jesus got angry at the dishonest money changers and merchants and drove them out of the temple. It is right to be angry about injustice and sin. The anger we need to be wary of is selfish anger: the anger that comes from jealousy or when we don’t get our way. We must be cautious about anger when we think we’ve been insulted or undervalued or lose an argument. It’s all right to be irritated or annoyed; being a Christian doesn’t mean we stop having emotions. What it does mean is that we don’t hold on to our anger and let it fester. If it is a righteous anger, we need to do something about it; if not, we need to let it go.

Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. [Habakkuk 2:4 (NLT)]

Father, help me know the difference between the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from a job well done, achieving a long-term goal, or accomplishing a challenging task and the prideful arrogance that comes from thinking I am better than someone else. Keep my heart humble.

Pride, after all, is one of the seven deadly sins – and the worst, according to most theologians, because it elevates the self to the place of God. … Pride as a sin is an attitude toward oneself and others, while the other thing we call pride is a feeling about excellence. To take pride in one’s work is not the same as taking pride in one’s birth. The first is a form of self-respect; the second is a form of snobbery. [From “Pieces of Eight” by Sidney J. Harris]