"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things."
-Philippians 4:8
I had a point guard who struggled early on with her play and self-confidence. After beating herself up after a practice, I stood by her and said, "What stinks?" She replied, "My game." I disagreed and told her it was her attitude about her game. I told her to stop her stinkin' thinkin'!
To many times as athletes (and coaches) we tend to think the worst about ourselves or our situations. We tend to find our value in who we are as athletes, not in who we are in Christ. When this happens, as it did with this player, our stinkin' thinkin' takes over and our God-pleasing thoughts take a back seat.
Paul reminds us in Philippians that we need to think about things that are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy! Our lives are meant to be pleasing to God. We honor God when we think good things, not bad. Too much of life is caught in the negative. Let us focus on the positive for God's glory.
Later in the year, we were down at half and were playing terribly. After a less-than-positive half-time talk, my team slowly walked out of the locker room back to the court to warm up. The last player to pass me was this young point guard. She said to me one thing, "Coach, stop your stinkin' thinkin' 'cause we ain't losing this game!" You know what? She was right. We won! It is good to practice what we preach, but I will save that for another devotional. Let's quit our stinkin' thinkin' and start our positive thinking for Kingdom living!
1. Does your attitude carry a less-than-desirable smell?
2. When do you need to focus on Philippians 4:8?
3. Today, how can you stop your stinkin' thinkin' and start Kingdom living?