CHANGE YOUR FOCUS (3 OF 5)
Scripture: Philippians 4:8-9
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Change Your Focus (3 of 5)
Series: Philippians 4
Stephen Whitney
Philippians 4:8-9
In 1979 a Detroit Newspaper made an offer of $500 to 220 different families if they would agree not to watch TV for one month. Only 127 families accepted the offer. The other 93 families were not willing to turn off their TV for even one month.
Five of the families were studied and reported on in Good House Keeping magazine. Each of the families have been watching TV from 40-70 hours a week or about 6 to 10 hours a day so this change became a major adjustment for them.
Some strange things happened as a result such as the lady who started talking to her cat and the couple who stopped talking to each other altogether. But there were some good things. Books were pulled of the shelf and read, families played games and listened to the radio together.
The results reported by the families were:
• Brought the family members closer together.
• More contact took place between parents and children.
• There was an increase of patience between people.
• Creativity was enhanced.
But at the end of the month TV won out again. All five families returned to watching TV for almost the same number of hours as before and some even more than before.
It is hard to break old habits and our way of thinking
not only in what we do, but also in how we think.
James Allen in As A Man Thinketh wrote, ''Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and take root there produces what is sown. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit. The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner
world of thought.''
We cannot control our circumstances, but we can control what
we think about in our mind while we are in the midst of the circumstances. When we are facing trouble, worried about the future, or anxious about our present circumstances our thoughts often focus on doubt and we become discouraged.
Instead of being anxious about things we are to give i ...
Series: Philippians 4
Stephen Whitney
Philippians 4:8-9
In 1979 a Detroit Newspaper made an offer of $500 to 220 different families if they would agree not to watch TV for one month. Only 127 families accepted the offer. The other 93 families were not willing to turn off their TV for even one month.
Five of the families were studied and reported on in Good House Keeping magazine. Each of the families have been watching TV from 40-70 hours a week or about 6 to 10 hours a day so this change became a major adjustment for them.
Some strange things happened as a result such as the lady who started talking to her cat and the couple who stopped talking to each other altogether. But there were some good things. Books were pulled of the shelf and read, families played games and listened to the radio together.
The results reported by the families were:
• Brought the family members closer together.
• More contact took place between parents and children.
• There was an increase of patience between people.
• Creativity was enhanced.
But at the end of the month TV won out again. All five families returned to watching TV for almost the same number of hours as before and some even more than before.
It is hard to break old habits and our way of thinking
not only in what we do, but also in how we think.
James Allen in As A Man Thinketh wrote, ''Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and take root there produces what is sown. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit. The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner
world of thought.''
We cannot control our circumstances, but we can control what
we think about in our mind while we are in the midst of the circumstances. When we are facing trouble, worried about the future, or anxious about our present circumstances our thoughts often focus on doubt and we become discouraged.
Instead of being anxious about things we are to give i ...
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