What are you thinking about? What is on your mind? Do you have thoughts that are positive, good, true, and praiseworthy? Or are your thoughts negative, deceiving, wrong, or harmful? The mind is a powerful thing that can greatly influence the way a person lives his life. Behaviour and action start in the mind. The mind is where decisions are made. The mind is also seen as requiring attention in the Bible as you might suspect. I want to take some time in this post to examine both the negative and positive impact that the mind can have on a person’s life. Then, in closing, I will discuss three Bible passages that talk about the mind and thoughts. I encourage you to make this personal and think it through for your life and where you’re at in your thought life.
Negative Impact of the Mind
Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like if we could read each other’s minds. I’m sure you’ve probably thought about that before as well. I suspect that it probably wouldn’t be a good thing. As we are affected by sin and are sinful, the thoughts that we have are definitely not always good, right, and true. They can be quite dark. Just look around at the world today and see all of the hurt, pain, and consequences of sin. As humans, we think things. The thoughts we have can be acted upon or not. When we have wrong thoughts and act upon them, negative and painful consequences occur. We can misuse the brain that God has given us for all the wrong purposes. The results can be disastrous. However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Positive Impact of the Mind
The mind can be used for negative purposes, but when it is used the way God intended it, the story is quite different. God actually created the mind to be a wonderful thing! Think about all of the complexities and processes of the mind. Think about all of the possibilities of the mind. The mind can be used for a lot of good. For example, take all of the discoveries and inventions that started with the mind. Kind gestures start with a thought. Think of all the wonderful things a person can do that all start with that same person having a thought. Thoughts can be positive or negative. The challenge and goal is to surrender the negative thoughts to Christ and to focus, dwell on, and use the positive thoughts you have for the glory of God. For the remainder of this post, I would like to bring 3 Bible passages into the picture and apply them to this discussion in regards to both positive and negative thinking.
Bible Verses
#1 – 2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Are you a person that struggles with your thoughts? Does it affect your life? Here’s the situation. Our hearts (and our thoughts if we allow them) deceive us. (Jeremiah 17:9) We can come to the point where we believe the things that we think about even if the thoughts are completely false, wrong, and deceptive. However, if you are saved through Christ, then you have the Holy Spirit living in you, and He leads you into all truth (John 16:13). Therefore, you can choose to either meditate and act upon wrong thoughts, or you can catch them, take them captive, and leave them with Christ. It is possible. The problem is that sometimes we want to hold onto certain thoughts that we know to be wrong. It all comes down to a heart issue. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can have a good thought life. We need to rely on God and pray for His help in the matter.
#2 – Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
This passage shows us that we don’t have to conform to the ways of the world. In fact, we are commanded to refrain from doing this. Instead, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. How do our minds get renewed? I would like to suggest a very practical, obvious way. Read God’s Word. We are constantly taking in the world’s ideas, thoughts, and concepts everyday. In order to make sure we do not conform to these thought patterns, we need to be intentional in reading and meditating on the Word of God. As we think and focus on truth, it changes us. It is only through our minds being aligned with God and His Word that we can also know and do His will. Do you want to know God’s will? Do you want a renewed mind? Read, meditate, and act upon His Word.
#3 – Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.
Do you want to be a godly person and serve God? If you do, how important do you think it is that you have a healthy thought life? It’s all laid out here and it’s not complicated. It’s actually quite straightforward. We are to think upon positive, truthful, lovely, wonderful, praiseworthy things. It’s easy to say, but do we do this? What type of things occupy your thought life? Are there any changes you need to make in your life to make sure that you are thinking about things that please and honour God? I encourage you to take some time and come up with some things to meditate on that are good and would glorify God. Search His Word and pray to Him to show you what He would have you think about. Let me give you an idea. One thing I like to think about is eternal life with God and being with God forever and what all of this entails. It really brings joy to my heart. What can you think about that would glorify God?
I hope this has given you something good to think about. This is serious. Your thought life has an impact on your life and on the choices and decisions that you make. It is not something to take lightly. Thankfully, God is with us to help us have a thought life that honours and glorifies Him. Ask Him for help. Get help from trusted people in your life if you need it. It is a battle. Sometimes, it is a moment by moment battle and it can be hard and challenging. But in the end, if when we see God face to face and He says “Well Done”, we will know and believe for certain that it was a battle worth fighting.
What are you thinking about?