8 Finally, brothers, 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.TRUE
Let's start with the word 'true'. I would describe this adjective in terms of trying to only think about things that we know for sure. For instance, you see two of your acquaintances looking your way and lean into each other to laugh and whisper. This would be an easy time to think that they are saying something negative or degrading about you. However, you do not know if your suspicion is true or not. Since you cannot prove it to be true, it is very pointless to try and figure out why they were laughing about you since you do not even know if you were the topic of their conversation or not. There are several other great examples of this kind of thought, like wondering what someone's opinion is, obsessing on whether your attractive friend is interested in you, or trying to predict what God will do in your life in the distant future. These are all examples of thoughts that waste time or even hurt the believer. What tends to happen when we are meditating on what is uncertain is that we fill the unknown void with our anxieties and fantasies. For instance, if I see people who I believe to be laughing at me, I will quickly jump to the conclusion that they are laughing about my biggest insecurity, whether that be a flaw in my posture, appearance, action, beliefs, or any number of things. Satan also makes big use of these opportunities to manipulate us into believing anything. This idea is shown in 1 Peter 5:7-8:
7 Cast all your anxiety on [God] because he cares for you.Since our anxieties are openings that allow our enemy in, we are told to be self-controlled. As it says, we are to control our thought life by casting our anxiety on God. If we do not practice self-discipline, our hearts will be guided to wherever Satan would wish and leave us in a timid and paralyzed state. This is not God's will for us, as shown in 2 Timothy 1:7:
8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.To exercise this self-discipline and power in the thought life, limit the amount of thinking you do about things that you do not know to be true. It may not always be bad to wonder about what could be, but, more often than not, we need to focus on what God has given us to do or plan today. This is why Matthew 6:34 tells us
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.and James 4:13-17 says
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.My next section will deal with some of the adjectives that are virtually synonymous:
NOBLE, RIGHT, ADMIRABLE, EXCELLENT, PRAISEWORTHY
This has to deal with seeing the best in people and in our days and learning to affirm and focus on those positive aspects rather than entirely focus on what is negative. Now, unlike what the world would tell you, there actually are times when confronting negative behavior is the right thing to do and it is alright to think about and mentally prepare for such a confrontation. However, the way to do this is not to constantly meditate on the wrong that is being committed and the anger that comes with that thought. Such thoughts get us nowhere, hurt us, and open up opportunities for Satan to do damage. Look at Ephesians 4:26-27:
26 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.Another great verse for this discussion is Colossians 3:12-14:
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.Whatever the situation, we are told to have the right heart about it and not let those negative thoughts dominate our lives. They can and will consume us. Instead, we are to think and meditate upon what is positive in our lives. This is all part of the spiritual discipline of Thanksgiving, where we process all the blessings that God has given us and let that remembrance empower us to pursue God in the future. Let us not forget what God has done, as some did in Psalm 106:11-13:
11 The waters covered their adversaries;Instead, may we cry with David in Psalm 77:10-11:
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.
13 But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his counsel.
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:This remembrance will draw us deeper into our relationship with God and sanctify us. This process is shown right before our theme verse in Philippians 4:6-7:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Changing our thought life in this way will also expand God's kingdom and push out Satan's, as shown in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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.Let us continue on to what is
PURE
Let's start off with the smaller idea of sexually pure thoughts, as shown in Matthew 5:28:
28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.and Job 31:1:
1 “I made a covenant with my eyesHowever, I would like to expand that idea to thinking that stays pure in our commitment to God. Another way to say this is to not think of anything as having more value than God and to meditate with love and awe on who God is and what he has done. This is also known as delighting ourselves in God. This kind of thinking will fulfill us like nothing else in the world can. Psalm 37:4 speaks of this:
not to look lustfully at a girl.
4 Delight yourself in the LordFinally, let us discuss what is
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
LOVELY
From what I've seen, Satan sometimes attacks people by putting ugly thoughts in their minds. These can come in the form of nightmares or just random thoughts about horrible and grotesque things. If these thoughts come to mind, please be aware that it might be spiritual attack that is coming against you. To fight this, arm yourself mentally by thinking about the lovely things that come from God. Look at Ephesians 6:10-12:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.These are all the thoughts that I can currently conjure up on the topic of the thought life. Please consider my thoughts and the topic and see if you can apply them. Growing in this area has impacted all the areas of my life and I would love to help you achieve the same. If you have more specific questions, feel free to contact me.
In Christ,
Simeon Snow
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