For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 23:7

Gem Gilbert was a British tennis star who died a most unusual death. But that’s getting ahead of the story.

As a young girl, Gem watched her mother die of shock in a dentist’s chair after having a tooth pulled-a tragic but unlikely accident. And Gem became convinced that she would die the same way. For thirty years Gem carried this image in her mind. Understandably, she avoided dentists!  But finally Gem developed a toothache so painful that she had to visit a dentist. Terrified, she took along her pastor, her medical doctor, and her best friend. But their support was not enough. Gem died before she could even get into the chair.

The British press worded the obituary this way. “Gem Gilbert had been killed by thirty years of thought.”

Certainly this is an extreme example. But  many women do the same thing that Gem did. Perhaps their mother was an alcoholic, and they are terrified of being like her. Or, like a friend of mine, they had an abusive mother and fear that is their destiny too. It doesn’t have to be. Self-defeating cycles can be broken, but only the heart is touched at an emotional and thinking level. And that happens if, every day, we dedicate our minds and our thoughts to Jesus.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I dedicate my mind and my thoughts to you today.