Right Thinking

One of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is controlling our thoughts.  Out of our thoughts come our actions.  Out of thinking comes sin.  In fact, even wrong thinking is sin (Matt. 5).  It is not enough to know the truth, we must cultivate a mind that thinks the truth, that thinks right.  Right thinking is not only a matter of content but also of methodology.  When we are thinking about right things, we should make sure we are thinking about them rightly.

In regards to content, right thinking must involve the Lord.  If we are not thinking about the Lord and His will, then He is not filling the most intimate parts of ourselves.  No one can know a man but the spirit of that man (2 Cor. 2:11).  We must "let" the Lord into our thoughts.  Moreover, the thoughts of man are to be the lamp of the Lord, the place of residence of the Lord Most High (Pro. 20:27).  Because of this we need to be on guard as to what we let into our minds as what dwells in our minds becomes us.  If we dwell on lust, lust becomes us as it does with anger, worry, malice, conceit, pride, etc.  What we allow our thoughts to linger upon is of great importance and has significant ramifications, good or bad, depending on the content thereof.

The content that we fill our minds with can be quite revealing to the state of our sanctification.  If our thoughts are constantly on wickedness, pride, lust, ungodliness, etc. then we are not letting the Holy Spirit in.  More profoundly, if our thoughts are wicked, our whole selves are too (Pro. 15:26).  In contrast, if we truly are being sanctified, we will be thinking about godly things, our thoughts will be spent on the Word, and we will be equipped to discern the good and perfect will of God (Pro. 16:20).  If this is insufficient to compel us to use our intelectual faculties to think about godly things, the apostle Paul exhorts believers to only think about that which matters (Phil. 4:8).

Additionally, the methodology of our thinking should also be under examination.  The Word should be the focal and aim of our whole beings, including our minds.  Our thinking should be determined and molded by the Scripture, never the other way around.  The Bible determines what we think, what we think should never determine what the Bible says.  This means that we encounter the Word with a discipline to be malleable to it.  This is extremely challenging because we can be very emotionally attached to what we think about Scripture, to dogma.  This is dangerous.

Dogma has a way of letting us see only what fits that dogma and justifying that which disagrees with it.  Instead, we should be humble enough to come to the Word with a childlike sense of wonder, acknowledging that the Word has its own rules.  This means that we will be willing to change with the Word and not be so stiff as to not allow the Word to do its sanctifying work.

Right thinking is part and parcel to righteousness.  As righteousness is only found in Jesus, then right thinking must be Christ-centered and Christ-like.  Again, we are image-bearers of Jesus and are being transformed into the Word.  It is not enough to merely read the Scriptures, we are to become the Scriptures.  This takes discipline of the mind as to replace the fleshly-thinking of world with the right-thinking of the Lord.  In order to be like Christ we need to think like Christ.  This does not and cannot happen apart from Bible study and the work of the Holy Spirit.  But it is not to be an arduous or undesirable change in thinking.  In fact, having our thoughts change to the thoughts of the Lord is extremely beautiful and such a blessing.