“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.” Philippians 4:8
The definition of purity is, “being free from foreign or inappropriate elements, clear and true.”
Purity is not from the outside in, but from the inside out. Purity isn’t necessarily just physical, it is mental first. It says in Philippians to THINK on these things.
In Proverbs 15:26 it says that the thoughts of the pure are pleasing to God.
Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, and habits shape a person’s character. For example, nobody becomes an addict overnight. It is choice that is made over time.
The same concept applies to thoughts. Both pure and impure thoughts get engrained into our hearts. The Word says, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). So positive thoughts spawn good words, just as negative thoughts spawn negative words.
The trick to overcoming the negative side of this is to take our thoughts captive. We bring those impure and unclean thoughts to the obedience of Christ:
“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 Corinthians 10:5
Living out Philippians 4:8 is really a very achievable goal; And we have the perfect example of how to do this in Jesus. Because he was noble, righteous and pure, and we have his character being formed in us, we can also “think on these things”. We can truly have the mind of Christ.
Be kingdom minded; live for the eternal!
Questions:
What thoughts have you been entertaining that you need to take captive?
What scripture will you use to replace them?
What places, situations, or people should you avoid in order to keep from thinking and acting on those thoughts?