Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8
New Thoughts
During the past few months, I have had the impulse to clean out drawers and closets, repaint bathrooms, etc… Maybe it is being stuck at home for long periods of time during quarantine. Have any of you been doing home improvement, organization, or deep cleaning projects?
Not just the house…
However, the more time I spend stuck inside our house with my family, the more I realize that more than just my house needs a little reorganization. I start to feel myself getting tugged into old patterns of thinking, such as complaining, resentment, bitterness, discontentment, anger, frustration, etc. I need a thought remodeling – a remodeling of the mind. That’s what this series is all about.
Cleaning Out the Junk
I clean out all the stale thinking, the bad thoughts, the horrible attitudes… Give my mind a really deep cleaning and a fresh coat of paint. When we are working on transforming our thoughts, we have to get rid of old, unbiblical patterns of thinking.
Time to Refurnish
However, we also have to refurnish that mind with fresh, Biblical, Godly thoughts. We have to intentionally choose the right patterns of thinking. Thinking that will help us grow closer to God and to do His will.
See, if I leave it empty, I will fill it up with clutter. I know this from my experiences with my house. If I don’t intentionally assign something to a space (like a drawer or shelf), I will toss random things in it when I am in a hurry until it is full of junk again.
Thought Remodeling – How To
So, what are we going to fill our minds with now that we have cleaned out the space?
Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8
Whatever is true
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17
In this verse, Jesus is praying and he defines truth as God’s Word. The best thing we can replace all that old, unbiblical thinking with is the Word of God. John 1 calls Jesus the Word. Jesus names Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). We cannot go wrong thought remodeling when we think thoughts of Jesus.
Whatever is honorable
The Greek word used for “honorable” here is semnos. It translates as worthy of awe, majestic, venerable…character that deserves high respect or great esteem. These are great thoughts to entertain your brain.
Whatever is just
This is “just” as in the just in the eyes of God, or righteous. It is the same word that refers to Joseph (the earthly father of Jesus) in Matthew 1:19:
So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. Matthew 1:19
It is also the description of Zechariah and Elizabeth (the parents of John the Baptist) in Luke 1:6:
Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.
Whatever is pure
Purity throughout the Bible is equated to innocence and a state of being uncontaminated. The Greek word is the same one that used for the phrase “Free from sin” in 1 Timothy 5:22:
Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin. 1 Timothy 5:22 (NASB)
Thoughts of things and people who are free from sin and pure inside and out. Those are great additions to your thought life.
Whatever is lovely
I like lovely things: beautiful flowers, picturesque landscapes, art by masters, etc. However, this Greek word implies more than pretty to look at. Here it also means worthy of affection or something that is dearly prized. Interestingly, this is the only place in the Bible where this Greek word “prosphiles” is used.
Whatever is commendable
Commendable in this case is something that has a good reputation. Good things have been reported on it and it is worthy of admiration. In this letter to the Philippians, Paul is speaking to the church. Therefore, this good reputation is not by the world’s standards, but by the standards of Christ-followers.
Moral excellence
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
The Greek word arete, meaning moral excellence or virtue, is the same one used in 1 Peter 2:9 to denote the excellencies of God. God’s virtues are endless and provide amazing fodder for our thought lives. In fact, according to 1 Peter, we are to proclaim God’s excellencies. How can we proclaim them if we haven’t given any thought to them?
Praiseworthy
Worthy of Praise. This is the same word that is used when the Bible refers to God praising or acknowledging certain people. But, it is also the word used in Ephesians 1:11-14 –
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Dwell
Dwell, as in take us residence in, or live in these types of thoughts. We should be living every day in the remodeled room of our minds, furnished with the thoughts described in Philippians 4: 8. Thought remodeling changes the atmosphere of our minds and creates a Christ-centered thought life.
Action Step:
Thought remodeling is hard work. We have to work at consistently cleaning out bad thought patterns and replacing them with the thought life to which God calls us.
We can start small. Choose a scripture to memorize today. This is going to be your go-to thought when you kick out a bad thought. Then, it is time to ruminate on God’s word instead. His Word will work on our thought remodeling even when we are unaware. When you have decided on one, I would love to hear what it is. Post the reference in the comments and let me know.
In case you want some ideas, here are a couple of mine:
James 1:17: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. –This is great when something bad happens and I am tempted to forgot all the amazing blessings God has bestowed on me.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5: For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. –I love the phrase “take every thought captive! Check out post #1 in this series: Tie ‘Em Up!
Philippians 4:19: And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. –Especially when I need something and am starting to doubt that God can handle it. 🙂
Exodus 34:6b-7a: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. –This is how God describes Himself to Moses. Just a list of some of God’s virtues…
Prayer:
Dear God, Thank you for revealing to us the need to transform our minds. But, you don’t leave us alone to do it. You tell us what to think about as we do. Help us to follow the advice of your word in our daily lives, putting Christ at the center. In Jesus’ name, amen.
To see other posts in the Transform Your Thoughts series, CLICK HERE!