Meditate on these verses noting the usage of "thoughts."
"... Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature" (1 Cor. 14:20, ESV, emphasis added).
"...[H]ave the same mindset as Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5, NIV).
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12, NIV, emphasis added).
"... [A]ll his thoughts are, "There is no God" (Psalm 10:4, ESV, emphasis added).
"They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them" (Romans 2:15, ESV, emphasis added).
"The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his hearts was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5, ESV, emphasis added).
"... [H]ave you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" (James 2:4, ESV, emphasis added).
Why are thoughts so important to our walk? They are to be godly and have the divine viewpoint. We are not to think like the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (to conform to the image of Christ), according to Romans 12:2. It is not sufficient to be content with Bible knowledge if it doesn't sink into our minds and make them in the image of Christ and to learn to think like He thinks, "we have the mind of Christ [Scripture]" (1 Cor. 2:16). Our minds are finite and Christ's is infinite and we will never peg Him nor have a handle on everything He thinks, but we are to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).
The devil likes to destroy our thinking process with lies from the world, and only the study of Scripture can prepare us to fight them. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" ((2 Cor. 10:4-5, NIV, emphasis mine).
Your worldview is your mental outlook (how you interpret the world around you and its events) and it must be Christian or what is known as the Judaeo-Christian worldview, as opposed to the Secular Humanist or Postmodern ones so prevalent in academia today. It is a sad fact, for instance, that the average teen believer now actually believes truth is only relative and there is no "absolute truth." Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (cf. John 18:37-38). "...Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:38, NIV).
Jesus claimed to be the incarnation, embodiment, or personification of the truth and He claimed you will and can know it: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (cf. John 8:32). Man's learning can be called "true," but only Scripture is "truth." That's why truth transforms and has the power to change lives. That's why Jesus said: "Sanctify them by the truth, thy word is truth" (John 17:17, KJV). This is where we must take our stand and show our colors--there is knowable absolute truth and we are responsible for it, as revealed in Scripture.
No one can claim ignorance and no one has an excuse (cf. Romans 1:20). Just like Paul said in 1 Cor 13 that when he was a child he thought as a child, and so on; it is time to think like a man of God and this doesn't just simply being content to be impeccably correct theologically (it is far more urgent to have your heart in the right place), but thinking like Christ as it relates and applies to the world around us (i.e., "to understand the times" per 1 Chronicles 12:32). Our thoughts are vital, for Christ must first be in our minds before He can be in our hearts, likewise doctrine.
At the Ocean Grove Conference Center in New Jersey the inscription over the speaker's platform reads (boldface added):
SOW ... REAP
a thought an act
an act a habit
a habit a character
a character a destiny
IT IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO PUT A PREMIUM ON THOUGHT CONTROL.
Soli Deo Gloria!
"... Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature" (1 Cor. 14:20, ESV, emphasis added).
"...[H]ave the same mindset as Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5, NIV).
"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12, NIV, emphasis added).
"... [A]ll his thoughts are, "There is no God" (Psalm 10:4, ESV, emphasis added).
"They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them" (Romans 2:15, ESV, emphasis added).
"The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his hearts was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5, ESV, emphasis added).
"... [H]ave you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" (James 2:4, ESV, emphasis added).
"But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, 'Why do you think evil in your hearts?..." (Matt. 9:4, ESV, emphasis added).
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true ... think about these things" (Philippians 4:8, ESV, emphasis added).
The heart in Scripture refers to the innermost being of man, his affections, will, and intellect. In Psalm 19:14, David prays that the thoughts of his heart be acceptable in God's eyes. Man is whatever he thinks about all day, some poet has written. Another has said appropriately, you aren't what you think you are, but what you think, you are! Jesus said (cf. Matt. 15:19) that "out of the heart come evil thoughts." The lips reveal what's on the heart, that's why David prays that the words of his mouth and the meditations of his heart be acceptable in God's sight. Quoting Psalm 139:23, David prays, "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." We keep no secrets from God. Proverbs 23:7 is pertinent: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Jesus said that all is open and laid bare to Him whom we must give account. In other words, God wants us to get our thinking straightened out! We are to love God with all our minds, too."Finally, brothers, whatever is true ... think about these things" (Philippians 4:8, ESV, emphasis added).
Why are thoughts so important to our walk? They are to be godly and have the divine viewpoint. We are not to think like the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (to conform to the image of Christ), according to Romans 12:2. It is not sufficient to be content with Bible knowledge if it doesn't sink into our minds and make them in the image of Christ and to learn to think like He thinks, "we have the mind of Christ [Scripture]" (1 Cor. 2:16). Our minds are finite and Christ's is infinite and we will never peg Him nor have a handle on everything He thinks, but we are to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).
The devil likes to destroy our thinking process with lies from the world, and only the study of Scripture can prepare us to fight them. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" ((2 Cor. 10:4-5, NIV, emphasis mine).
Your worldview is your mental outlook (how you interpret the world around you and its events) and it must be Christian or what is known as the Judaeo-Christian worldview, as opposed to the Secular Humanist or Postmodern ones so prevalent in academia today. It is a sad fact, for instance, that the average teen believer now actually believes truth is only relative and there is no "absolute truth." Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (cf. John 18:37-38). "...Everyone on the side of truth listens to me" (John 18:38, NIV).
Jesus claimed to be the incarnation, embodiment, or personification of the truth and He claimed you will and can know it: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (cf. John 8:32). Man's learning can be called "true," but only Scripture is "truth." That's why truth transforms and has the power to change lives. That's why Jesus said: "Sanctify them by the truth, thy word is truth" (John 17:17, KJV). This is where we must take our stand and show our colors--there is knowable absolute truth and we are responsible for it, as revealed in Scripture.
No one can claim ignorance and no one has an excuse (cf. Romans 1:20). Just like Paul said in 1 Cor 13 that when he was a child he thought as a child, and so on; it is time to think like a man of God and this doesn't just simply being content to be impeccably correct theologically (it is far more urgent to have your heart in the right place), but thinking like Christ as it relates and applies to the world around us (i.e., "to understand the times" per 1 Chronicles 12:32). Our thoughts are vital, for Christ must first be in our minds before He can be in our hearts, likewise doctrine.
At the Ocean Grove Conference Center in New Jersey the inscription over the speaker's platform reads (boldface added):
SOW ... REAP
a thought an act
an act a habit
a habit a character
a character a destiny
IT IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO PUT A PREMIUM ON THOUGHT CONTROL.
Soli Deo Gloria!