Holiness in Mind

Holiness in Mind.

Yesterday I looked at Isaiah chapter 6 and how we as Christians ought to be holy in our speech. We said that ultimately, what comes out of our mouths is what is in our heart. Today, I would like to study what God's Word says about having holy minds.

A holy mind is a precious thing to have. To have a perfectly holy mind, us Christians would have to be free from sin. This we know is not possible while we live on this earth. Perfect holiness will only be attained when we see the Lord Jesus face to face (1 John 3:2). For now, we live in our sinful bodies and, we still sin, everyday. Since we hate our sin, we must live in a way so that sin is rooted out of our lives. This is what it is like to live a holy life. We separate ourselves from the world and set ourselves towards Christ, studying His word so that we will become more like Him.
To have holy minds, we must think of practical ways to train our minds to think Holy thoughts. A good place to start would be to turn to Philippians 4:8. It reads,

 

 "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

 

This marvelous verse speaks of what should be occupying the thoughts of our minds. For Christians, we must search out what these characters are and seek to fill our minds with them. Our minds need to be pure so that we can be honouring to God. So, let's unpack this verse a little bit more.

 

True:

What is truth? Well we know that God says in John 17:17, "...Your Word is truth." It is scripture alone that is true and has truth that is applicable to our lives. God's Word is everlasting and perfect. There are absolutely no errors in it. Whatever is found in God, the Holy Spirit, and Christ is true.

 

Honourable:

Something that is honourable is 'worthy of being respected'. As believers we are to think about things that are worthy of our love and praise. Things that are honourable bring glory to God's name. We will only attain honour with God is we pursue a righteous life. Proverbs 21:21, "He who pursues righteousness and loyalty finds life, righteousness and honour."

 

Right:

Things that are right are in line with what God says to be true. To do something right is to do that which honours God and to do it in a proper way.

 

Pure:

Purity of heart is extremely important for a Christian. To be pure means to be clean, not only morally but also spiritually. We are made pure in a spiritual sense when are sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. When we live a saved life in obedience to God's Word, morally purity is the result. Those who live pure lives desire to be holy just as their God is holy. Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

 

Lovely:

In the Greek, lovely means, "pleasing" or "amiable". As believers, we are to focus on what pleases God. Also we must focus on true love, that is, a love that is sacrificial and serves other before serving self. John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."  When we think of love, we should think of Christ's ultimate love for us. That He died on a cross for us and took the punishment that we deserved while we were still his enemies so that we may repent of our sins and be blessed with everlasting life.

 

Good Repute:

Whatever is of good repute is usually something that is sought after. It would be having the traits of kindness, justice, and mercy. For us Christians, whatever is right in God's eyes is something that is of good repute. We love what He loves and that which He says is good, we say is good as well.

 

Worthy of Praise:

We know that God most high is worthy of all our praise. If we strive to live a life that is honouring and pleasing to Him then we will bring Him praise. We need to live our lives in a way that our minds would be holy and honouring to our King. The best way to have a holy mind is to saturate it with the Word of God. It will act as a filter and help us discern between truth and error. To the praise of the God who saved us and called us His own!

 

Blessings,

       Lucas C.