PURE IN MIND, PURE IN HEART
By: Jennifer Nystrom
Finally, brothers, 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the peace of God will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV
My mother had many “momisms” that she shared with me while growing up. You know, those little life lessons in the form of quotes that stick with you. One that made a big impact on me was, “you don’t have to stick your head in a garbage can to know there is garbage in it.”
Her point being, we don’t need to see or experience many things of the world just to understand why it’s bad. Some argue that if we aren’t familiar with the things of the world, how can we relate to and understand the unbeliever. I don’t have to go to an R-rated movie to see firsthand why the content is not pleasing to the Lord. We don’t need to be filling our minds with questionable song lyrics or steamy novels just to be able to relate to our neighbor.
What we do need is to fill our minds with things that encourage us to be loving, caring human beings. As we fill our hearts and minds with the things that are pleasing to God, we become more like Him—pure in mind, pure in heart.
Plan of Action: Identify one thing that you could eliminate that may not be pleasing to the Lord and fill it with something that you know would be pleasing to God.
Finally, brothers, 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the peace of God will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV
My mother had many “momisms” that she shared with me while growing up. You know, those little life lessons in the form of quotes that stick with you. One that made a big impact on me was, “you don’t have to stick your head in a garbage can to know there is garbage in it.”
Her point being, we don’t need to see or experience many things of the world just to understand why it’s bad. Some argue that if we aren’t familiar with the things of the world, how can we relate to and understand the unbeliever. I don’t have to go to an R-rated movie to see firsthand why the content is not pleasing to the Lord. We don’t need to be filling our minds with questionable song lyrics or steamy novels just to be able to relate to our neighbor.
What we do need is to fill our minds with things that encourage us to be loving, caring human beings. As we fill our hearts and minds with the things that are pleasing to God, we become more like Him—pure in mind, pure in heart.
Plan of Action: Identify one thing that you could eliminate that may not be pleasing to the Lord and fill it with something that you know would be pleasing to God.