8
Finally, brothers, 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. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9 NIV)
We have all heard of the power of positive thinking. A minister in New York City by the name of Norman Vincent Peale popularized it. Since that time, the message of positive thinking has been promoted by books and seminars all over this world. And many people have found this message to be helpful in living their lives in a more optimistic way.
Positive thinking certainly is more beneficial than negative thinking. Developing a positive mental attitude has been shown to increase productivity and personal satisfaction with life. People with a positive mental attitude are far more enjoyable to be around than people with a negative mental attitude.
In our text today, the apostle Paul talks about the importance of the way we think. At first glance, he seems to be encouraging us to develop a positive mental attitude. That is true, but that is not all he is doing. He is encouraging us, as Christians, to begin to think in a distinctively Christian way. And the reason why he is doing this is because our thinking matters.
Today I want us to look at both the implications of our text and the explicit message of our text. Our text implies several important truths and it also gives us some specific direction in how to think and live.
One of the implications of our text is that ideas are powerful. And indeed they are. Ideas are so powerful that they outlive those who have them. All you have to do to find the power of ideas is to take the time to read history.
If you read history, you find that ideas have been the driving force behind much that has happened. Rome was an idea. The United States was an idea. Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China was an idea. Hitler’s Germany was an idea. Those who originally had these ideas were outlived by their ideas.
The ideas were powerful enough to outlive those who had them and powerful enough to continue to shape the course of civilization. Ideas are powerful. I remember watching some video of Adolf Hitler and wondering to myself about what made this man so powerful. He was not an imposing figure. In fact, he was a short, funny looking man who didn’t look too much like a leader. What made him so effective was his ability to communicate his idea to the German people. He was able to sell his twisted notions in such a way that the German people adopted his vision.
Ideas are powerful. Ideas shape history. Ideas shape your life. We need to understand the importance of ideas as we consider how to think in a distinctively Christian way.
But we not only need to understand the power of ideas, we also must understand the power of the mind. Ideas have their origin in the mind. And what we think matters.
Mental health professionals as well as medical doctors can tell you just how powerful our mind is. In fact, our mental condition can affect our physical condition. What you think about can actually make you sick.
Spiritually speaking, our minds become a battlefield for Satan. His main strategy is to gain control of our mind. You see, if he can control how we think and what we think, he can control us. If he can get us to believe a lie, then he can get us to behave in accordance with the lie we have believed. For instance, if he can convince us that it is futile to believe that we can overcome a particular sin, then our best efforts will be filled with doubt. What practically happens is that we then do not expect to be victorious. In many cases, we will simply not really try because we do not believe that we can. What we think or believe matters.
It has been said that we really only use about 10 percent of our minds. I wonder what would really happen if the other 90 percent were somehow activated? Perhaps when we get to Heaven it will be. Who knows what powers we might have hidden in that unused 90 percent? Perhaps we will be able to communicate telepathically. We may be able to read one another’s minds. I’m glad we can’t here on earth. I really don’t want to know everything someone is thinking here, do you? I think I’ll wait till we get to Heaven where there will not be any sinful thoughts to read. The point is that even though we only use a fraction of our minds, they are still very powerful indeed.
Our thoughts shape our lives. What we believe determines how we behave. How we look at the world and think about the world determines how we respond to our circumstances and other people. Our thoughts also determine what we will become. In the book of Proverbs there is a verse that says, "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." In other words, what we focus on determines how we live. Conversely, you can determine a person’s mental focus by how they live. There is great power in the mind.
This leads us to examine another implication of our text, and that is the power of negative thinking. The power of negative thinking is the power to destroy and tear down. A cynical perspective destroys hope.
What happens when you begin to focus on the negative? What happens when you adopt a cynical perspective towards life? What happens when you are always focusing on the problems? Well, the first thing that happens is that your spirit turns sour. You slowly start to become a negative person. You begin to grumble and complain. You become suspicious and untrusting. And the result of this is that you become a miserable person. You quit enjoying life. You quit enjoying the relationships you have with other people. And you, in fact, drive people away. No one likes to be around a negative, cynical person. If you are like that, when they see you coming, they try to avoid you.
But you can choose what you think about. You may not think this is true. You may wonder how you can keep negative thoughts from entering your mind. When I say that you can choose what you think about, I mean that you can choose what you dwell on. It is virtually impossible to keep any negative thought from popping into your mind, especially since Satan and his workers send many of them your way. But you can choose not to dwell on those negative or sinful thoughts. Someone once said that you may not be able to keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair. You can choose to reject those negative thoughts just like you can choose to receive them. If you receive them and dwell on them, you will become a negative person. If you reject them and refuse to dwell on them, you will be able to avoid their destructive influence.
We are told in Romans 12:2 that we can keep from being conformed to this world by the process of renewing our minds. In other words, we must retrain ourselves to think in a distinctively Christian way.
Finally, brothers, 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)
Now we turn our attention to the power of positive thinking. But what is in view here is not simply positive thinking. There is more to it. What the great apostle Paul is talking about here is really the power of Christian thinking. You see, it is not enough simply to reject negative thinking and focus on the positive. We must retrain our minds to focus on those things that God focuses on.
Notice those things he emphasizes in verse eight. He mentions things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. He is asking us to reject thinking that is impure and unrighteous––thinking that is ungodly. And he is asking us to embrace a new kind of thinking–– thinking that is righteous and holy and positive.
Christian thinking, you see, is hopeful thinking. Christian thinking is faith filled thinking. As Christians, we put our trust in Jesus Christ. We believe that God is in control. We know that God loves us and wants the best for us. So we trust he is working out his plan in our lives. We trust that he knows what he is doing even if we do not. And we can rest in that trust. While others are filled with worry, wringing their hands, we are at peace in our faith in Christ. And this makes a difference, not only to us, but also to others as well.
When people see others with this kind of positive mental attitude, they marvel. When they see people who are able to rise above the negativity that prevails in our culture, they notice the difference. And we should be different. Christian should not think or live like the world. We live by a higher power. And God has left us in this world to be a testimony to his grace. We are here to show the world what it is like to be a Christian. Therefore, our challenge is to live our lives in such a way that people, when they see us, desire what we have.
A positive Christian mental attitude encourages us and others. It encourages unbelievers to come to know Christ. It encourages believers to trust him with their lives. It encourages us to trust him more. This is why it's so important to focus on the positive, hopeful, righteous, and praiseworthy. It has the power to change our lives and to change the lives of those around us. It has the power to change our culture.
The choice is yours. If you want to find the negative, it’s everywhere. If you want to focus on the bad, you will have no trouble finding it. You can find in yourself, in your mate, in your children, in your friends, in your boss, in your neighbors, in your church, and in everything else. But if you do that, you also find that you are soon divorced, childless, friendless, jobless, homeless, and churchless.
But if you begin to focus on the things that God is doing, you will become optimistic and hopeful, filled with faith. You will become a blessing to others and you will find that life is filled with God’s goodness.
Perhaps you need to be reminded just how many blessings you have received. But me challenge you to take some time to write a list of all of those things that God has done in your life. List the many ways that God has blessed you. You will not only be surprised at how many things you can find to put on that list, you also be surprised at how thankful you become for all the good things that God has done in your life and the lives of those you love. It will change the way you think.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 NIV)
Paul now turns his attention to how we are to live. He challenges us to put into practice the things that we have seen modeled before us.
Christianity is about how we live. It is certainly about how we think, because thinking is the foundation for living. But ultimately we must put into practice what we believe. When Jesus called his disciples, he called them to follow him. And the call to be a Christian is still a call to follow Jesus.
The message in verse nine is that a good example is worth following. The apostle Paul had modeled through his own life how a Christian should live and think. Now he challenged them to follow his example. He is pointing out the power of practical living. He is saying that we must put into practice Christian attitudes and Christian actions.
Thinking and living, they go hand in hand. You will never live right unless you think right. And living right will also encourage you to continue to think right.
This world is dying for lack of examples of true Christianity in action. We should think right and live right because we love Jesus. But we should also think right and live right because people matter to God. Our example can be a tool in his hand that he can use to touch another life.
I remember something that happened shortly after I became a Christian. A girl that attended the same high school came up to me and told me that she had heard that I became a Christian. It had touched her heart, she said. She went on to say that she knew that if God could save me, he could save her. Some people might not take that as a complement, because she was in essence saying that I was worse than she was. However, I knew it was true. I was much worse than she was. I wasn’t offended. I was blessed. I was blessed because she was saying that God had changed my life. And I was also blessed because God was using my life to touch hers. How we live our lives matters. We are God’s trophies. He loves to point to us and say to this world, "Look at what I did in them. I can do the same thing in you."
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