My Mind Steers the Ship

February 25, 2021

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 NLT

A few facts are true for every one of us; three unquestionable things we have in common:

  • We have participated in every poor decision and regret we have in life.
  • We have been principal players in every broken or less than satisfactory relationship we have had.
  • Every one of the unfortunate words we have spoken and every wrong and hurtful action we took started in our mind, with thoughts we did not control.

If you question the validity of any of those statements, if you think you are an exception, stop right now and reflect with God for a few moments over the situation you think is an exception. Owning that these facts are true for you is not saying you are a bad person, or even that you are primarily responsible in a given situation. Your contribution might mostly be that you didn’t understand the other person, but a certain amount of responsibility does come back to you. If you can’t own that, you have no option to see yourself as anything but a powerless person, adrift in a sea of chaos in which you have no control. There will be no positive progress. God does not see you that way.

The primary resource He gives us for success in life with its diverse relationships and challenging situations is our mind. We have the ability to choose what we will see and what will be our focus. You and I are urged to proactively choose where our focus will be, what thoughts will fill our minds. 

  • True things (not speculations and theories)
  • Honorable things (there would be no shame if others knew what we were thinking)
  • Right (things that fall in the “oh, yeah!” category, not questionable)
  • Pure (things that are clear of any kind of “dirt”)
  • Lovely (things that could be painted in a picture and it would be beautiful)
  • Admirable (things that others would hear and say, “Well, that’s wonderful!”)
  • Excellent (things of the highest quality, the highest standard)
  • Worthy of praise (Thoughts that would get a standing ovation from God and His people)

Wow. If we fixed (cemented down, made permanent) our thoughts about people in that way, how would our relationships change?

  • Pray: Lord, my mind is such a machine. It is the driver of my actions and my relationships. Remind me every time my “fix” is wavering today. Help me remain fixated on the thoughts about people that will get Your applause. Amen.