Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable,
beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind.
And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God,
praising him always. (Philippians 4:8 TPT)
Our pastor is preaching through two series. Our Sunday morning series is on what it means to have a Kingdom Culture – humility, honor, love, etc. Our mid-week series is around the theme of childishness vs. childlikeness. Jesus told us he wants us to come to him with the innocence of children. “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18:16 NIV). But God is not impressed with childishness. Those who are childish are selfish, power grabbing, tossed to and fro by the latest fads, needy, and fearful. The Apostle Paul scolded the childish people in the early church: “For you should already be professors instructing others by now; but instead, you need to be taught from the beginning the basics of God’s prophetic oracles! You’re like children still needing milk and not yet ready to digest solid food.” (Hebrews 5:12 TPT). In fact, we are told that “Now is the time for us to progress beyond the basic message of Christ and advance into perfection.” (Hebrews 6:1 TPT). Not “later,” not “someday,” not “eventually,” but NOW is the time to progress in our faith. Childishness has to go.
But childlikeness does not.
What makes someone “childlike?” One of the first qualities we think of is purity. Often, young children are so excited about God and life in general! They have the purest hearts, biggest smiles, and the most generous and gracious natures. If we are to come as a child to God, having a gracious and generous nature, a big smile, and a pure heart is a good place to start. So, how do we have “pure hearts”?
If you’re an adult who has lived in this world for any length of time, you know that the world’s “junk” can get on you pretty easily. And whether it’s outright sinful or just annoying, it wants to stick to us. That’s why we need to be continually coming to God in confession for sin and in worship for cleansing of our souls. Spending time in God’s presence helps to purify our hearts. Your mother or grandmother probably told you that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” While this works for household messes, it also works for our souls. When we prevent impurities from coming upon us, we have less to confess and have God “wash off.” One of the major areas where we often struggle is in our thoughts – a battlefield where we fight to maintain our spiritual innocence. We must be discerning about what we spend our mental energy on.
The Apostle Paul tells us what we should think about: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].” (Philippians 4:8 AMP). In my experience (and having known plenty of failure in this area), it is very difficult to think only of things that are true, honorable, respectful, right, pure, wholesome, lovely, peaceful, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Oy vey. Do I struggle in this area of my life.
Yet, when we are discerning about what we spend our mental energy on, we can save ourselves a tremendous amount of angst and turmoil. If we can’t fix something, we probably shouldn’t invest energy in it. If we don’t have enough truthful information to form an opinion, we probably shouldn’t let someone else’s emotional spew infect us. It’s easy to get caught in gossip, unless we are meditating on what is virtuous and praiseworthy. If we meditate on the wrong things it’s difficult to be childlike. We have to fight not only for our children’s innocence, but for our own. We must “stay in our own lanes,” especially in our thoughts, as we approach God with childlike purity, faith, and joy.
What is on your mind?
God,
Thank you for the sweet gift of relationship with you through Jesus Christ. Thank you for your love and grace and your call to come to you as a child. Help us not be childish in our faith, but childlike. Help us to choose love, hope, peace, and purity to maintain our childlikeness. Purify our hearts, our actions, and especially our minds. Help us to not go places in our minds where you are not; help us instead to “stay in our lanes,” having taken every thought captive. Help our thoughts to be always focused on that which is true, honorable, respectful, right, pure, wholesome, lovely, peaceful, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy, we pray in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
We are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ… (2 Corinthians 10:5 AMP)