What Are You Thinking About?

I was reading through Joyce Meyer's Battlefield of the Mind for Teens a couple days ago and I read this verse: "Finally, brothers, 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." -Philippians 4:8

I started thinking. If God wants us to follow this guideline for what we're thinking, how much of our thought life would pass this test? We have so much trash going through our heads. Almost nothing passes the Philippians 4:8 test. It's proof of how much we need God. We're so messed up that what we think for about 99% of the time is just junk. It's pointless, even stupid. I'm pretty sure that the majority of my thoughts today did not pass Philippians 4:8. So what do we do about it?

In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples." Not following the guidelines in Philippians can lead us off of the path that God wants us to walk. So write down Philippians 4:8 on a piece of paper or memorize the verse. Whenever you're thinking about how much you hate someone or how boring class is, remember it and ask God to help you clean up your thoughts; He will listen and give you the power to train your mind to think good thoughts.