In Philippians 4:8, Paul instructed the church to think beautiful thoughts. He encouraged them to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, of moral excellence, and worthy of praise. How often are our thoughts centered on things like these? I confess my own mind is not naturally inclined to go to such places. I will also tell you when I do think of such things, my mood improves dramatically.
Such thoughts are a natural tonic and trigger the endorphin rush we all crave. When we dwell on dreadful things, our mood sours and our hearts darken. The question we must then ask is, why do we not spend our days thinking beautiful thoughts?
As it often turns out, the root of the reason why we don’t think beautiful thoughts is because we are too selfish to take the time to do so. We’re so consumed with ourselves we simply can’t spare the time to think of anything else. Our minds are constantly scheming how we might get ahead, and on how we might find safety, comfort, or enjoyment. With all this going on, no wonder we don’t have time to think beautiful thoughts.
We live in a beautiful world, but generations of sin have caused it to often become ugly. Nature is still beautiful, but people have stained the ground with centuries of bloodshed and evil. In our modern era, we are bombarded with stories of every latest atrocity. Mass shootings, bombings, and terrorist activities fill the airwaves and the web. It’s difficult to escape the onslaught of ugliness. Still, we are told to dwell on beautiful thoughts.
As followers of Christ, we must be careful to not let our minds linger on the ugliness surrounding our lives. We have beautiful news to share with a desperate world. Spending too much time dwelling on the negative happenings in our world will dull our appreciation for beauty. We must continue to look for the wonder of God’s creation everywhere we go. The world is still beautiful. People perform amazingly selfless acts every day. There is goodness all around us, but we’ll miss it if we aren’t accustomed to thinking beautiful thoughts.
When we think beautiful thoughts, we are better equipped to share the good news of Jesus. If we allow our minds to be consumed by the evil men do, the light of Jesus will not shine through our lives. We have what the world needs, but they’ll never see this unless our life reflects it. My experience says it’s far easier to follow Jesus when we discipline ourselves to think beautiful thoughts. When we allow the devil to poison our thoughts with everything wrong in the world, he is winning the battle. He cannot compete against beautiful thoughts because there is no longer any beauty in him. We must never give in to society’s call to join with the masses focusing on all which pollutes the world. We have the antidote. We have the cure. We must tell everyone. It all begins with thinking beautiful thoughts. Mind your mind. Go be beautiful for Jesus.