I would not be surprised if you’ve heard a minister say from the pulpit or on a Christian broadcast, “We are what we think and say we are.” In other words, if you think you are inferior you will be inferior. If you think you are talented, you will be talented, etc. It is made to sound as if this is a new concept in motivational thinking. But the truth of the matter is that this concept was expressed in writing a long time ago by Siddhartha Gautama, better known as, Buddha.¹ Put in modern terms it reads: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”

However, even though there is no record that Buddha read the Old Testament, he was only repeating what the wise king Solomon said: “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.”² In the words of British philosophical writer, James Allen: “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”³ But a French philosophical writer named Rene Descartes said, in Latin, “Cogito ergo sum,” or, as it better known in English, “I think, therefore I am.”

Why does our thinking have such an impact on us and those around us? We know it comes from a conscious mind and involves reasoning that leads to rational decisions. That is all well and good, but it must draw its energy from some source other than collecting these thoughts out of thin air. According to Jesus, the source is what we put in our hearts and minds.

Just like a seed that is programmed to germinate, grow, blossom and bear fruit, so are the seeds that we allow being planted in our hearts and minds. That’s why He said: “A good tree does not produce bad fruit. And a bad tree does not produce good fruit. Every tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. You won’t find figs on thorny weeds. And you can’t pick grapes from thornbushes! Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are corrupt have hearts full of corruption, and that’s why they say things that are corrupt. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.”⁴

So, if you are worried about what may stream out of your mouth, especially under duress or in a moment of panic, indecision, or anger, become more discreet and cautious as to what goes into your mind and takes root. You may deceive others by the way you look, but it’s hard to mislead them by what you say in unguarded moments. Yes, it is always good to think before you speak. But when your thinking flows from a polluted or bitter well, then that’s what you offer others to drink. – Dr. Robert R. Seyda