“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).
If we watch parents with small children it is clear that most of them are careful about what goes into a child’s mouth. We certainly pay attention to what we put in the gas tanks of our automobiles. If we aren’t careless about what we eat and what we feed our children, it might be good to pay attention to what we feed our minds.
I find it far too easy to spend time thinking about negative things. A pain in my side might be cancer. A phone call may mean a problem somewhere. A knock on the door is probably a crisis. That’s a crazy way to live. The way to overcome that kind of thinking is to feed my mind with the right ingredients. That’s why the Bible is a godsend for me.
The things that occupy our minds have a direct impact on the way we live and talk. The psalmist pointed that out. “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). If we think on good things we will speak good words and, as the psalmist said, that will be pleasing to God.
