Monday, June 27, 2011

Motivational Monday: "Think On Christ"

Ezra Taft Benson, “Think on Christ,” Ensign, Mar 1989, 2

When President George Albert Smith was a boy, he had an experience that changed his life. He wrote:

“As a child, thirteen years of age, I went to school at the Brigham Young Academy. … I cannot remember much of what was said during the year that I was there, but there is one thing that I will probably never forget. … Dr. Karl G. Maeser one day stood up and said, ‘Not only will you be held accountable for the things you do, but you will be held responsible for the very thoughts you think.’

“Being a boy, not in the habit of controlling my thoughts very much, it was quite a puzzle to me what I was to do, and it worried me.

About a week or ten days after that I suddenly understood what he meant: You will be held accountable for your thoughts, because when your life is completed in mortality, it will be the sum of your thoughts. 

That one suggestion has been a great blessing to me all my life, and it has helped me on many occasions to avoid improper thoughts, because I realize that when my life is over I will be the product of my thoughts.”
Thoughts lead to acts,

acts lead to habits, 

habits lead to character—

and our character will determine our eternal destiny.
The mind has been compared to a stage on which only one act at a time can be performed.

From one side of the wings the Lord, who loves you, is trying to put on the stage of your mind that which will bless you.

From the other side of the wings the devil, who hates you, is trying to put on the stage of your mind that which will curse you.

You are the stage manager—you are the one who decides which thought will occupy the stage.

Remember, the Lord wants you to have a fulness of joy like His.

The devil wants all men to be miserable like him.

You are the one who must decide which thoughts you will accept. You are free to choose—but you are not free to alter the results of those choices. You will be what you think about—what you consistently allow to occupy the stage of your mind.
The Lord said, “Look unto me in every thought.” Looking unto the Lord in every thought is the only possible way we can be the kind of men and women we ought to be.

The Lord asked the question of His disciples, “What manner of men ought ye to be?” He then answered His own question by saying, “Even as I am.”  To become as He is, we must have Him on our minds—constantly in our thoughts. 

If our thoughts make us what we are, and we are to be like Christ, then we must think Christlike thoughts.

We are accountable for our thoughts and what we think about. Our thoughts should be on the Lord. We should think on Christ.

“What would Jesus do?” or “What would He have me do?” are paramount personal questions of this life.

Walking in His way is the greatest achievement of life.

2 comments:

Zoey said...

Thanks! I needed this pick me up today.

CB said...

This is wonderful Sondra!!
Sometimes it is hard to control thoughts whether it is gossip or anger or jealousy or something more serious.
It is something we constantly need to think about so we can be not only thinking good thoughts but listening for the spirit.

Great job!

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