Think On These Things

We are told in Romans 12:2 to not be conformed to the world, and we are told in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we are to take every thought captive to obey Christ, but how do we do this? Paul gives us the answer (at least an important part of it) in his letter to the Philippians where he writes:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things.

Philippians 4:8

If we want to renew our minds and bring our thought life into obedience to the Word of God, if we want to have the mind of Christ, we cannot keep feeding our minds on the stuff of the world. In this list Paul tells us what the Christian mind should be occupied with; we cannot feed our thoughts lusts and passions of the world and expect to ever have a renewed mind. And as long as we do not renew our minds we will always be conformed to the world.

So what do these words imply? John MacArthur explains this this way:

True. What is true is found in God (2 Tim. 2:25), in Christ (Eph. 4:20, 21), in the Holy Spirit (John 16:13), and in God’s Word (John 17:17). noble.[Nobel - ESV] The Greek term means “worthy of respect.” Believers are to meditate on whatever is worthy of awe and adoration, i.e., the sacred as opposed to the profane. just. This refers to what is right. The believer is to think in harmony with God’s divine standard of holiness. pure. That which is morally clean and undefiled. lovely. The Greek term means “pleasing” or “amiable.” By implication, believers are to focus on whatever is kind or gracious. of good report. [commendable - ESV] That which is highly regarded or thought well of. It refers to what is generally considered reputable in the world, such as kindness, courtesy, and respect for others.

John MacArthur - The MacArthur Study Bible

These are the things we are told to focus our minds on. The Bible teaches that the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 5:5-6). Our very salvation involves the renewing, or transforming, of our minds. This is the key to living a Godly life.

For this reason I have picked this verse, Philippians 4:8, as our memory verse for this week.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things.

Philippians 4:8

And don't forget to keep working on our previous verses as well:

Psalm 119:11
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Hebrews 1:1-2
Joshua 24:14-15
Philippians 2:5-11

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