How do you know your thoughts are right? How do you know you can trust your thoughts? What if your thoughts are wrong? More importantly, what are the consequences if you think wrongly? This may seem very Philosophy 101 at community college, however its quite important to know if you are thinking rightfully or if you are thinking wrongfully.
Think about decisions that you have made today. What you decided to have for breakfast, or if you chose to forgo it; the way you drove to work, or where you planned to sit in the house to telecommute… it is the Covid Era at this moment. How did you choose what to say to your family this morning? Did you try to encourage them today, implore them to pursue the Lord today, take time to know how they are doing? What did you do when you woke up this morning, what did you prioritize? What are you planning to do tonight? What sin did you last choose to commit… that you know of? You make numerous amounts of decisions a day. A stat at http://www.mirror.co notes that 773,618.00 decisions on average are made in your lifetime, averaging 27 decisions a day. I’m not quite sure how accurate that is or how they even put that number together, however that is a plethora of decisions. I may even argue that you make many more a day than that, as everything you do has a decision behind it.
Why am I running on this tangent? To say this: Most of the decisions you make are controlled, planned, and moved forward by your thoughts. Now yes there are some instantaneous decisions you make without thinking, including life or death situations, habits you no longer give much thought to, etc. However most decisions are made, most conversations are had, most content we choose to read or listen to, most sins we decide to commit can be attributed to our thought life.
Why? Because your thoughts guide your whole life. They are the tool by which you make your decisions. And your mind and thoughts are linked to your heart. Not the beating organ in your chest, but rather what the Bible makes clear is the control center of who you are.
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)
The writer of this proverb, King Solomon, the wisest man up to that point of human history, was making clear that it is out of the mind of man that he plans. It is out of his thoughts, his control center that he plots out his steps.
“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10)
The Lord speaking to Jeremiah, makes clear that the heart and the mind are connected. More than that the Lord is able to judge the deeds and ways of men by looking at his mind and heart. How scary. The scriptures go on making the same point, but I’ll list another to belabor it.
“Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.” (Psalm 26:2)
Kind David, here, cries out to the Lord to test and reveal, not his actions, but his heart and mind. Why? Because it is clear that the actions, plans, and decisions of a man come out of his or her thoughts and heart. God is able to judge and analyze someone’s life simply by their thoughts.
So again, I ask: How do you know if you are thinking rightly? Why is it important to think rightly? What are the consequences of thinking wrongly?
If you are a Christian, and I hope that you are, your testimony is one of wanting to please and honor the Lord in all that you do, because all that Christ has done for you, ultimately saving you from sin and death. You desire to glorify the Lord, better put by the Apostle Paul when he says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31). It is the Christian’s desire to live in a godly fashion, pleasing the Master with all the activities, deeds, plans, conversations, hobbies, and work that we do in this life. But it is out of the heart and the mind that all these godly works must come.
Those who try to please God by their own morality and self righteousness do not get that, for they may be doing good deeds on the outside, but by the selfish intent of the heart on the inside. In fact this is what God is ultimately saving man from in the Gospel. For God reveals the following of man:
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)
God proclaimed that all the plans and works of man were terribly wicked. Why? Because the thoughts of the heart of man were evil….ongoingly. Man’s actions were bad because his thoughts were bad. This is a problem. If you are a Christian you agree that you are sinful, you agree that you were saved from a truly evil way of life. And God reveals that your ways were evil, because your thoughts were evil. Another way of saying it is that your thoughts were opposed to God and his thoughts. That is why God says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) God is not just merely referring to the fact that he is all-knowing and we are not. He is referring to the fact that man’s ways are not God’s ways because man is naturally opposed to God. We do not operate the way He operates. We do not think the way that He thinks.
Why think rightly? Because are thoughts reveal who we are, and reveal what we do. Our thoughts move to our actions, and our mind displays our heart. And what do we know about God? That he tests and judges the heart. As a worshiper we desire to worship Him with our heart. We desire to worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
So what are the consequences of thinking wrongly? The answer is Sin. Sinful thoughts, sinful actions, sinful conversations, sinful deeds, sinful worship. Wrong thinking will always produce nothing of value, and will never produce anything God-glorifying. For Jesus says:
“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:19)
Do you see it? Do you see what Christ says about man’s heart? That from it come evil thoughts. Which lead to what? Sinful action: murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. See once more from our Lord Jesus Christ:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)
Christ makes clear that both of the men above have committed the same sin. How is that possible? Both men had the same sinful thoughts. Both men committed sin in their heart, one man merely acted upon it further. The teaching of Christ is that man’s mind and heart are utterly prone to think wrongfully, and therefore do wrongfully.
However, this is the absolute gift of the Gospel. Man’s heart and mind being so completely lost in sin, he is in need of a brand new heart. There is no fixing the old heart. For the Scriptures say “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). This can also be translated as ‘incurably sick’. But that Gospel is this, that through the sufficient work of Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, man can be reborn, become a new creation, and with this rebirth comes a new heart from God. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27) By this new heart man can rightfully worship the Lord, and begin to think God honoring thoughts, that lead to God honoring actions. By our new heart, and being covered completely in the righteousness of Christ we are judged as being right and holy before him. Praise God!
Nevertheless, for the Christian, there is an ongoing reality that we are still attached to our old flesh, our old thinking, our old hearts. As Paul says “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (Romans 7:21) This is why there are ample commands in the Epistles to put off the old self, mortify the flesh, and train ourselves to godliness. (1 Tim 4:7) Here is the command from Paul:
“assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:21-24, Emphasis added)
There it is again! Because of the flesh that is still attached, we are told we still have to fight to shed it off. And how do we do this? By being renewed in our minds! Our heart and our minds must be worked on, we must train them, they must be refined. How may we otherwise say it? Our minds must begin to think rightly! If wrongful thoughts lead to sin, Rightful thoughts lead to glory. Right minds and right hearts, lead to God-glorifying hearts, motives, and actions. Why is it important to think rightly? Because in doing so we begin to, more and more, glorify that Lord in all that we do; which is the true testimony of the true Christian. But Paul says it better:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)
Two questions answered. I now know the consequences of wrongful thinking are a sinful heart and sinful actions. I now know that right thinking is God-glorying in the heart, mind and deed. And I know now that it is a need to learn more and more how to think rightly.
But how do I know if I am thinking rightly? Its one thing to know that I need to, it is another to know how to. How do I stop thinking wrongfully, and how do I start thinking correctly? There is a foolish error that a Christian can make, and I would be as bold to say that every Christian makes, myself being the most susceptible. Let’s call this mistake ‘the prideful assumption’. The prideful assumption is this: that because I am a Christian, I must automatically be able to think rightly. It must naturally be engraved into me. I already have the ability at my fingertips. All the knowledge I need to think rightly, I already have. Simply put, the foolish Christian now believes he can trust his gut. He can trust his circumstantial feelings. His own Conscience and thought life is assuredly, completely pure now. But the Word of God speaks to this erred thought:
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)
Men and women, and yes even still Christians, trust their guts and their thoughts way too much. It is the error of humanity to trust himself. “Surely I know the best way”, “surely I know the right answer”. Yet it is this mindset that brings man closer and closer to death. Again here is the wisest man Solomon, at it again:
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 16:25)
Wait, will do one more:
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.” (Proverbs 21:2)
Solomon, seems to be driving the nail that a man or woman will constantly trust in their own judgement, and it is never weighed well by the Lord. When a Christian understands that they are still very much attached to their old nature, they must also keep in mind, that the same patterns of thought, the same prideful assumptions, the old wrongful ways of thinking linger much closer to home then we want to believe. The error of prideful assumption always rushes man back to his foolish thoughts, that ultimately lead to sin.
To quote Billy Mays, “But wait, there’s more!”
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to flesh and refreshment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3:5-8)
Ah, yes! Proverbs 3:5-6, the scripture on every coffee mug. However if we quoted these verses all the way to verse 7 we would see that broader context. God is not just encouraging His flock that he will establish their steps, that he will protect them; though that is a very encouraging truth! He is imploring His flock to genuinely not trust in themselves or their own thinking. He knows that man is prone to believe his thoughts and views are correct and wise, when in actuality God knows that they are not. Therefore He tells His people to trust in him alone! In another way he is proclaiming, “Do not trust your pridefully assuming, wrongful thoughts.
So how do we begin to train ourselves to think rightly? By knowing God’s ways, knowing God’s commands, knowing God’s words, storing his truths in our hearts, meditating on His laws. We compare our thoughts to God’s word. We analyze, by God’s word, if we are thinking rightfully. We test ourselves against the only pure scripture, His very Word. Jesus himself says:
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
Jesus makes plain that it is there Word of God, His truth that sanctifies us. What does that mean? That it is the Bible that transforms or renews our hearts and minds. Jesus trusted in God’s Word alone to do the work of sanctification. Listen to Kind David explain the same message:
“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of the Bible, and the whole psalm is about lifting up and exulting the Word of God, that man should put his soul’s trust into it. Psalm 119 makes clear that it is the very word of God that causes man to live well and think rightly, and do according to God’s ways. Here in this particular verse, David shows that by trusting in and keeping the Word of God in our hearts, it keeps us from sinning against him. Which we have established is caused by wrongful thinking. God gives a very straight forward explanation on how to rightly think, and by doing so, obey and honor the Lord:
“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)
The Lord makes clear that a godly king of Israel is produced by one who writes out the Word of God and spends every day storing it up. Why? Because in doing so it produces a godly fear in him to glorify the Lord. Even more so than that, this godly fear is the very thing that King Solomon says is the beginning of true wisdom, which is at its core, right thinking applied to life:
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10)
God knows that it is His very Word, His own recorded commands, His self-revelation that refines one’s heart and mind. It is His Law that produces reverence and fear toward Him. It is His proclamation of the Gospel, that brings further understanding of his merciful, just, and gracious nature. It is His Word that displays his majesty and power and authority. And all these things saturate the heart and mind of man to help him begin to think rightly, which in turn causes him to live rightly, unto the glory of the Lord.
So why think rightly? Because right thinking is God-glorifying thinking, which produces God-glorifying living from a pure heart, fulfilling the Law of Christ.
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
How do we begin to think rightly? By letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, letting it have its effect on our hearts and minds.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)
Thinker of this Thought:
Max Myers
12/10/2020
Thinking Rightly 