The Thoughts of the Righteous
The Thoughts of the Righteous
According to recent studies, the average person has approximately 6,200 thoughts per day.
The Person You THINK You Are
—Archibald Hart, Habits of the Mind
1. Who you are, as a Christian believer, can be no better and no worse than the thoughts you entertain in your head.
2. Who you are emotionally can never transcend your level of thinking.
3. Your thought process is a ceiling beyond which you cannot aspire.
4. Your brain is no stronger than your weakest thought, and your character no more virtuous than your most private reflections.
Holiness is not only about our actions but also about our thoughts.
1. Our minds are the battleground where many spiritual victories or defeats are decided.
2. The Bible calls us to bring every thought into captivity and make it obedient to Christ. Holiness in our thoughts means thinking thoughts that are pure, righteous, and aligned with God’s will.
3. When we focus our minds on God’s truth, we are able to live in a way that reflects His holiness
Pro 12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
Archibald Hart describes our thoughts as "the bedrock of our spiritual life."
How we think and what we think about is the foundation upon which we build everything else in our lives.
Right thinking is the result of righteousness
Right thinking is the result of obedience to Christ
Right thinking is the result of continually thinking right
Right living is the result of right thinking
THE PROCESS
“As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Hence, a man who thinks wickedly will live wickedly and a man that thinks right will live right.
Battlefield of the Mind
Jesus said, in Mark 7:20-23
"What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from without, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "
What goes on in our mind defines the kind of person we are.
"A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts
1. THINKING ON PURE AND RIGHTEOUS THOUGHTS
a) Setting Our Minds on God’s Word
b) Rejecting Negative and Impure Thoughts
c) Meditating on God’s Holiness
d) Developing a Christ like Mindset
2. TAKING EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE and Rejecting the Lies of the Enemy
Adam and Eve were the first people to demonstrate the power of false or ungodly ideas on behavior and their relational consequences.
1. Satan planted a doubting question in Eve's mind—"Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?' " Eve responded by repeating God's words. Satan, however, planted a lie in Eve's mind—"You will not die. You will become like God."
2. Because Adam and Eve listened to Satan rather than God, they suffered immediate consequences. They felt vulnerable and exposed—"they realized they were naked." They made fig-leaf clothing to cover up their shame and the embarrassing truth of their failure. Blame followed shame. The anguish of dishonesty replaced the ecstasy of authenticity. God found them hiding from him and each other. Today, you and I live in a world that is the aftermath of believing just one of Satan's many lies.
3. Satan works through our thoughts to hijack our emotions, skew our perspectives, darken our attitudes and to define our choices.
Cain, for example, allowed his distorted thinking to take over his emotions.
He had a choice. God said, "If you do right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it." Instead of listening to God, he followed the course of his angry thoughts—he went out and murdered his brother. How many spiritual murders and relational deaths occur because we listen to the wrong thoughts?
3. The Battle of the Mind WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST
a) Seeking God’s Will in Our Thoughts
b) Aligning Our Desires with God’s Will
c) Understanding the Importance of Thoughts
4. AVOIDING UNGODLY INFLUENCES IN OUR THOUGHTS
a) Guarding Our Hearts and Minds
Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts, for from it flow the issues of life.
b) Rejecting Worldly Ideals
c) Choosing What We Allow to Enter Our Minds
d) The Power of Positive Thinking
5. THE BLESSINGS OF HOLINESS IN OUR THOUGHTS
a) Peace of Mind
Isaiah 26:3 promises that God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are stayed on Him.
b) Spiritual Growth
c) Victory over Sin
d) Closer Walk with God
A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances."
CONCLUSION:
Choosing Godly thoughts shapes Godly lives
Holiness in our thoughts is an essential part of living a holy life.
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV
8 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. 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.
By choosing to think on things that are pure, noble, and in line with God’s Word, we align ourselves with His will and experience His peace and blessing
Let us continually renew our minds through the Word of God and keep our thoughts captive to Christ, ensuring that they reflect His holiness in every way.
