Think About These Things (& Not Those)

Five-Star Monday Mornings

Start Your Week with God's Word … and Some Other Points to Ponder

January 26, 2026

Let's start this week thinking about … our thoughts.

⭐️ Perspective — Psalm 94:8,11,12,19,22

⁸Understand, you brutes among the people.

You fools, when will you become wise? …

¹¹The Lord knows the thoughts of mankind.

He knows that they are just vapor.

¹²How blessed is the person whom you discipline, O Lord,

whom you teach from your law. …

¹⁹When my worries within me were many,

your comfort brought joy to my soul. …

²²But the Lord has become my fortress,

and my God is the rock where I take refuge. (EHV)

⭐️ Pearl — Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if anything is excellent, and if anything is praiseworthy, think about these things. (EHV)

The psalm verses above describe the thoughts of mankind (in its natural, sinful state) as “just vapor” — as futile, vain, or meaningless as a puff of air. That’s not to say people are incapable of reason or creativity, or that they cannot produce things of value or beauty; it’s just that a mind unaligned with the Lord’s cannot produce anything of spiritual worth or permanence.

That describes the wicked in their unbelief, but too often it also describes us as erring Christians who stray from God’s way. Our thoughts are not of what’s godly and good — or true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, or excellent. Instead they’re focused on what’s fleshly or false — what brings us pleasure or popularity, gives us an advantage over others, scratches a sinful itch, makes others pay for their offenses against us, or tells us that God should be happy to have us as his friends. And, sometimes, we fill our minds with thoughts that we’re unworthy of his love, that we’re irreversibly damaged, that our faults and failings are too much even for Jesus to deal with, or that no light can ever pierce the gloom we live in.

Don’t.

Don’t think any of those ways. That’s vapor. That’s not thinking God’s thoughts (it’s more in tune with the enemy’s). Become wise and accept his teaching; discipline your mind as someone guided by the Holy Spirit.

It’s not just right to do this, it’s an immeasurably better way to live our lives.

Yes, of course, it’s necessary for our minds to grasp the reality that we are by nature and action sinners who deserve nothing but judgment from God, but he never wants our thoughts to stop there. He wants us next, and quickly, to understand that the blood of his Son has cleansed us from that sin and made us like his Son: righteous, worthy, holy.

This is not just a theological abstraction. It’s your daily, spiritual, mental, and emotional reality.

So think that way. Thoughts of resentment, worry, worthlessness, vengeance, lust, despair, hatred, envy? That’s not you; that’s not how you think anymore. Your thoughts are all about what’s true and pure and excellent.

And you’ll be pleasantly surprised that when you think about those things, you think more clearly. And you feel better when you leave all that vapor behind.

⭐️ Point of Fact — Cognitive Distortion

Cognitive Distortion: A psychological term describing a way of thinking about oneself and the world that does not reflect reality.

A great many problems people have today involve cognitive distortions. One person suffers from crippling anxiety because she thinks that everything in her life and family will fall apart if she’s not in control of every detail. Another person is “stuck” because he thinks that a past trauma means he can never move forward or be happy. Still others think they know what’s in other people’s minds and with that misinterpretation poison or avoid relationships, or think that the future only holds bad things for them and miss out on opportunities and joy.

In a sense, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which seeks to relieve people of their cognitive distortions, is borrowing from Philippians 4:8: it’s a recognition that a lot of our problems can be solved not so much by changing our feelings or circumstances but by changing the way we think.

⭐️ Pith

“You FEEL the way you THINK.” — David D. Burns, MD

(Author of Feeling Good & Feeling Great)

⭐️ Prayer

Lord, too often I forget that when you made me a new creature in Christ you renewed my mind as well as my soul. Help me, then, to be more mindful of my mind. Lead me to be hungry for your Word and to keep on being filled with your Holy Spirit, and so not to have room anymore for thoughts that are worthless and worse. Keep me from whatever leads my mind where it should not go. Fix what is wrong with my thinking. Let my thoughts follow yours from now on, in how I think of myself, others, and the world. Grant this, I pray, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.