Character Begins with Your Thoughts - So Center Them on Christ

“What you stay focused on will grow.” (Roy T. Bennett)

I love this quote; it reminds me to try and live a purposeful life, one that is focused and driven and meaningful.

Thoughts

Focusing our thoughts on Christ is another way to center our lives on Him. We can all be entirely focused. Look! Something shiny!” Or, as it more often goes, the box in your pocket vibrates, and the dopamine rushes to your head as you see one new notification. You click on the new text, respond, and check Instagram quickly. Then, you find yourself mindlessly scrolling TikTok. Before you know it, an hour has passed, and all that time has been wasted.

As technology advances, keeping our attention on just one thing for more than a few minutes is becoming more and more complex. We are blessed with knowledge – literally – at our fingertips, answers on the go, and information on demand. With so much information, we want to process it quickly and efficiently. “Who is that actor?” “How old is she?” “what does this word mean?” “Where does that word come from?” with a simple Google search we have all the answers we desire. Unfortunately, this desire to process information and do things quickly leads many of us to think we can multitask and take it all in at once. Cue the multiple tabs open on your computer, switching back and forth from a recipe to research on your phone, or jumping from chore to chore on a Saturday morning.   

Multitasking                 

Let me give you a little hint that my brain is still trying to make sense of – most of the time – you cannot multitask.

Not that you shouldn’t, not that you will be able to do it at another time, but that you physically and mentally cannot do it. I’m not saying you can’t listen to music while you do the dishes. But I am saying you cannot give your full and undivided attention to two things at once.

It is impossible to multitask unless one of your tasks is so rote and memorized by your body and brain that it has become automatic.

I used to pride myself on my ability to multitask. In high school, I would come home, grab a snack, and head to my room, where I would spread my textbooks and notebooks in a semi-circle on the carpet. Then, I knelt in the middle of my semi-circle and rotated myself clockwise as I skipped from subject to subject, trying to get my homework done in what I thought was the most efficient way possible.

But, of course, as many of you already know, I wasn’t performing more than one thing at once. Instead, I was doing multiple things, one right after the other, very quickly – and let’s be honest, if I had focused on just one subject at a time, I probably would have finished more quickly.

The more we try to do at one time, the less attention we give to each task. To do something well, you need to give it your full attention.

Focus

Sometimes, taking control of our thoughts means focusing on one thing at a time to do it well. If we can gain more control of our thoughts and focus them on Christ, we come closer to making Christ the center of our lives.

So, how do we make the endless swirling of conversations in our heads calm down and settle to focus them on Christ? Sunday school songs and answers are usually the best answers to my questions. In Sunday school, we learn to hum a tune. So, come on, try to hum one of your favorite church songs, and it will give you a clear mind. Find a quiet spot – even if it is just for a few minutes while you are in the bathroom hiding from your kids – be calm, be still, and listen.

The Bible tells us, "…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16.)

Prayer can give us the strength and revelation we desperately need to focus our lives on Christ. Prayer forces us to focus our thoughts and sometimes our words on something other than the monologues we have playing repeatedly in our heads. Pray to center your thoughts on Christ – it is important because your thoughts are the precursor to everything you do.

Here are a few other practical tips and exercises that you can use to help you focus on Christ in your daily life:

• Morning Devotional/Routine: Begin your day with a devotional or quiet time. I know, mornings, ugh. But try to set aside a few minutes each morning to read a scripture, a passage from a religious book, or a daily spiritual thought. Reflect on the message and how it can guide your day.
  
  
• Prayer and Meditation: Incorporate prayer and meditation into your daily routine. Communicate with God through worship, express gratitude, and seek guidance. You can do this while driving or walking with the kids. You don’t always have to carve out time for these things; you can fit them into what you already do.
  
  
• Scripture Study: Dedicate time to studying the scriptures regularly. Again, you don’t have to sit down to do this. Why not try listening to the scriptures in the car or while doing dishes or laundry? There are many options for every lifestyle and personality type.
  
  
• Journaling: Keep a spiritual journal to record your thoughts, insights, and personal experiences related to your faith. Write down moments when you felt close to Christ or received answers to prayers. Journaling makes you focus on what you think and feel. You could even hang a piece of paper by your bed that you update every couple of nights before bed with a note or two from your day. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
  
  
• Daily Reminders: Set an alarm on your phone or computer to remind you to pause for a moment and reflect on how Christ is a part of your day. You can say a quick prayer, express gratitude, take a moment to enjoy the beauty around you, and reaffirm your commitment to living a Christ-centered life. As I keep saying, it doesn’t have to take a lot of time; try to gain some consistency in adding Christ to your daily life.
  
  
• Service: Serving others is a beautiful way to shift your focus toward Christ and His blessings. You can look for opportunities to serve others or be kind in daily interactions. Look for ways to be like Christ and bless those around you.

Thoughts - Destiny

Remember, the key is consistency and a sincere desire to make Christ the center of your life. Experiment and see what practices resonate most with you. Over time, they will become habits and help you maintain a closer connection to Christ daily.

Emerson said it best, “Watch your thoughts for they become words, watch your words for they become actions, watch your actions for they become habits, watch your habits for they become character, watch your character for it becomes your destiny.” (Ralph Waldo Emmerson.)

Your character and destiny quite literally begin with your thoughts – if your thoughts are scattered and not focused on Christ, those are the habits you exhibit, and that is the kind of person you become. If you want to become a Christ-centered person, you must center your thoughts on Christ. I know this is easier said than done, but I find that trying to be present, savoring a moment, humming a tune, and even meditating help me better focus and center my thoughts on only one thing at a time.

Friends

Lean on your community of faith for support and encouragement, and surround yourself with individuals who share or respect your commitment to Christ-centered living. I say share or respect because I do not believe it is helpful to surround ourselves with people who look, speak, act, and think the same way you do. If you agree with the people you surround yourself with all the time, you are limiting yourself and depriving yourself of hearing, discussing, and learning from people who are different from you.

As Dale Carnegie, the author of ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ says, “When two partners always agree, one of them is not necessary." (Dale Carnegie)

We don’t need to surround ourselves with people who parrot back what we say; we don’t need the affirmations of an echo chamber. We need differences in life; we need sound opposition. So, surround yourself with people who love and care about you and respect your beliefs – even if you don’t always agree with each other.

Please remember that centering your life on Christ is a continual process of growth. It is about making small, consistent efforts each day to draw closer to Him. I encourage you to embrace the opportunity to center your thoughts on Christ and invite Him into your daily life. Doing this will help you experience greater peace, clarity, and purpose as you go through life's inevitable joys and challenges.