Think About It

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8

Your mind is amazing. It can figure out puzzles. It can tell your heart to keep beating. It can remember fun memories from when you were younger. If someone says, “rainbow,” a picture of a colorful arch comes to mind. If someone says, “storm,” you might imagine a dark sky with rain pelting down or perhaps a sky filled with lightning. Different words trigger different thoughts in your mind, some good and some not.

Because your mind is able to reason, think, and remember, it’s powerful. What’s in your mind controls your actions, attitudes, and feelings. As God’s princess, you want to fill your mind with good things.

It’s so important for you to do this that God gave you a list of the types of things he wants you to think about. Those are things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. You should think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

That’s easier said than done. When you get in an argument with your brother or the kid who is supposed to share the bus seat with you, you probably don’t think lovely and admirable things. And when your coach makes you run extra laps because a few of your teammates were messing around, your first thoughts may not be honorable or worthy of praise. It’s easy to think of mean remarks you’d like to say out loud or to think angry thoughts about the people who caused the problem.

It may take practice to replace those angry or unkind thoughts with those that are pure and lovely, but it’s important, because what’s in your mind will affect your actions. And your actions tell others what kind of person you are inside. So when your thoughts aren’t about things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable, ask God to help you. When you have good thoughts, you become more like Jesus.

Write the list from Philippians 4:8 on a note card, and put it in your locker at school or on your desk or table if you’re homeschooled. Read it often, and practice what it says so that thinking those kinds of thoughts will start feeling more natural.