Check Your Thoughts

My earliest memory of when I heard Phil. 4:8 was during my secondary school days. I was in either JS 1 or 2 when a school was invited to our and they sang it. 23 years later, I can still hear the tune in my head, along (unfortunately) with how we responded in derision to their choir ministration. If only I had heeded the words of the song back then.

Thoughts are so powerful that if left unchecked can go on a rampage, and as children of God, Paul admonished us to capture every thought and force it to submit to God (II Cor. 10:3-5). How often have we been hindered from taking a leap of faith because of fear? On numerous occasions, I have stopped in my tracks because I was afraid. I recall when I had the dream to pursue an MBA, the fear of not being able to fund it, made me not pursue it. Till I heard my pastor in The Waterbrook Church preach a message that then inspired me to shake off the chains of fear and do it afraid (shameless plug here of a similarly titled post). To God be the glory, not only did I pursue that MBA degree, but I also finished it with a distinction. Imagine if I had let my thought stop me.

Our thoughts can also lead us to sin. One too many times, people have fallen off the straight and narrow path because of an evil thought that initially seemed harmless. In II Sam. 11:2 (NKJV), the Bible says: “Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.” This singular thought led him to commit adultery and murder. That is how powerful a thought is! That thought also resulted in the death of his baby and his son, Absalom, sleeping with David’s concubines on the roof of the palace for the world to see (II Sam. 12:15-19; II Sam.16:22).

This is why Paul warns us to capture every thought and force it into the obedience of God. To help us check our thoughts, the Apostle Paul in Phil. 4:8 (AMP), gave us what we can see as a checklist to audit our thoughts on a continuous basis:

·        whatever is true;

·        whatever is honourable and worthy of respect;

·        whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word;

·        whatever is pure and wholesome;

·        whatever is lovely and brings peace;

·        whatever is admirable and of good repute;

·        if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [centre your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

Every moment of your day, run through this checklist to confirm that your thoughts are in alignment with what God wants you to think. If you find that they aren’t, then immediately ask God for help in realigning them (Heb. 4:16). In this month of August, I charge you to ensure every single thought of yours is captured, audited, and submitted to the obedience of God. Then and only then will you be able to renew your mind and not be conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2).

P.S. Take some time to listen to the YouVersion devotional for August 9.