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 about these things.
–Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
Self talk. Yep, I do it all the time. I’m sure that you do too.
What do I think about? Everything. It seems that my mind is always going. My mind is my private space. Nobody knows what I’m thinking. Even my wife, after over 40 years of marriage, cannot read my mind.
But are my thoughts only my own? I don’t believe that they are.
You see, I firmly believe that God knows my thoughts. Jesus certainly knew the thoughts of others when He walked the earth. I therefore know that every thought I have is known by God.
Does that concern me? Not really. Even if I have “wrong” thoughts, I know that God knows them. The Holy Spirit lets me know they are wrong. I can ask for forgiveness and my all-knowing God will forgive me.
I need to get my thoughts under His control. Paul had a good solution for the Philippians. He shared eight really good things to think about. Whenever I have struggled with wrong thoughts, I can choose to start thinking about these eight things.
Guess what? It works! As I ponder my life and others in my life I can choose to identify the true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy things and think about them.
One of my favorite thoughts is of my beautiful wife who loves me. I also certainly think about my Jesus who died for me.
Prayer: Lord God, my thoughts are Yours. I know that you already know them. As I live my life, and think my thoughts, may I choose the right thoughts and not the wrong.
