Think on These Things

“Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.” – Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

The Bible clearly tells us that we need to have healthy thoughts. So often we can find ourselves in a downward spiral of just bad thoughts. We as humans tend to think the worst. We have a tendency to catastrophize the worst in situations and in others. It’s not fair to our loved ones, our co-workers, our neighbors when we start to think the worst, especially when we don’t have all the information. We see something, we don’t like it, we’re offended, we judge and think the worst. We can easily start believing lies, convincing ourselves it’s the truth. It can be subtle. And we know that our enemy, the father of lies, is subtle (Genesis 3:1-24). Satan can devour us with our own bad thoughts and he is subtle about it. Eve in the Garden is a good example.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

We need to be watchful, aware of being suspicions when we start assuming the worst in others. We can easily overlook the plank in our own eye (Matthew 7:3). We tend to be offended by the actions of someone else and see it as a sin against us, we don’t see our own sin against God. We are so quick to speak and slow to listen (James 1:19) when the suspicion becomes our focal point. It’s easy to suspect and can be so hard to forgive.

Matthew 7:1-2 – “Do not judge, or you will be judged. 2. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.… Think about that. I don’t want to be treated unfairly. Who does? Matthew 7:12 comes to mind, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you … ” God KNOWS all, He is omniscient. He really does know more about the situation then we do. It’s not our job to judge or condemn. Even Jesus didn’t come to condemn, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world…”  John 3:17 (NIV).

God gave us instruction to love out neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31). As Christians we do not belong to this world. Our lives need to reflect God’s love and forgiveness. But being the humans we are we can’t do this on our own. We need the help of Jesus. We need Him to be the focal point our our lives even when we start to suspect. Stop and recognize what is happening, repent of what you are doing and rejoice that God sees all and knows all. Leave the situation in His hands, let Him work out justice.

You know I wonder when we start to think we know what the other person is thinking or doing, are we trying to know all, like God, especially when we don’t have any evidence and none of the information, when we are believing lies fed to us by the enemy? Even in a court of law we are innocent until proven guilty. God who is the only one who can judge sees us as guilty until proven innocent by the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus this weekend, thank Him that He is omniscient, thank God for sacrificing His only Son, thank Jesus for sacrificing His life and His blood for us and rising again on the third day, thank the Holy Spirit for living inside us. We are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23).

When thoughts start to spiral out of control, when lies begin to infiltrate and take over your thoughts, when you become suspicious remember Philippians 4:8 – “… 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.