Look Unto Me in Every Thought

Reading: Topical Guide - Thought, especially 1 Chronicles 28:9, Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 6:24-34, D&C 6:36

Today I decided to peruse the topical guide contents for thoughts or thinking. I quickly found that the "Thought (noun)" entry was much closer to what I was looking for than the "Think, Thought" entry.

While going through these scriptures I came up with several themes that struck me.

• God knows our thoughts on an intimate level. Our minds are open to him to see. See 1 Chronicles 28:9
  
• The Savior's thoughts are higher than our own thoughts. If our thoughts partly determine our righteousness, than surely God's thoughts are infinitely more righteous than our own. See Isaiah 55:8-9
  
• Those scriptures that talk about our thoughts often are talking about having faith and not worry about bad things that might happen. See Matthew 6:24-34 and D&C 6:36.

We usually think about our thoughts as private, and rightly so because no one else can read our thoughts. However, the fact that our thoughts are open to God helps me to see that it really is important to watch my thoughts. Some of the thoughts I entertain, such as impatient or selfish thoughts, are really not things I would like to parade before God.

Also, I find the "take no thought for the morrow" statement by the Savior particularly interesting in this context. We are asked to plan ahead and to prepare for whatever may come. But, God doesn't want us worrying or becoming obsessed with things of the world. I know in the past I have often spent a lot of energy worrying about things in my future that I really can't control. But, lately especially, I've been able to worry less about those things and I have been blessed by that increase of faith.

I've written a lot in the past week about thinking about the Savior and how to better control our thoughts. We want to be focusing on the Savior in our thoughts every day. However, we should not be demanding perfection of ourselves right now. Good thoughts helps us to be happy, help us to be more Christlike, help us to be more grateful, and help us to be less fearful. It has been a great topic to study and a great start for my new study plan. I really feel that I have learned a lot and what I have learned has made a difference in my week.

Do you have any experiences where changing how you thought made a big difference for you in some situation that you would like to share? Or, do any of the scriptures I shared or that you might have read about thoughts give you a different insight than what I shared?