“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8, KJV)
There is an old idiom that goes like this. “Get you mind out of the gutter.” As far as I could tell, there is no exact date when this expression became popular. The gutter refers to the place where rain water runoff finds its way to the sewer. To have one’s mind in the gutter means that it is heading into the sewer. The gutter metaphorically refers to the lowest and most vulgar level of human life. This expression is used most often in our modern sex-crazed culture to refer to those who have their minds on illicit sexual activity. Yet this idiom must also extend to any abase thinking.
The Scriptures point to this problem of the mind in the days of Noah, prior to the flood. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5, KJV) The point is this. We need to move our minds from stinking thinking to profitable thinking.
Paul here gives a way to guard our minds from such stinking thinking. He stated,
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
If we can keep our minds on things of godly virtue, we will not have our minds on the corrupt things of this world system. I remember when I was working for a company in Zurich Switzerland. I would have to travel from the hotel on a tram through the red-light district. Honestly, the billboards and displays in this section were focused on getting one’s mind into the abase things of the world. The problem is that we are all bombarded with these suggestive things every day. It is not just sexual ills that are the problem. We have many other ugly and corrupt thoughts that get into our heads all the time. Paul wrote to the Corinthians on this issue.
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Corinthians 10:5, KJV)
How do we do this in a practical way? We must examine our thoughts to ensure they align with godliness. Every thought that is out of alignment with godly virtue must be confessed before the Lord. But perhaps the problem is that with which we fill our minds. Paul in the positive states there are certain things with which we must occupy our minds. He indicated that we must occupy our minds with things that are truthful, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtue, and praise. As I moved on that tram through the more abase area of Zurich, one of the things I would do is take my Bible out and read it, filling my mind with the word of God. This seems to be the best remedy, that is to have our minds saturated with the word of God so that we will naturally think of the things from above rather than those from the gutter.
Renewing the Heart 