Hold That Thought! Whatsoever is True…
Hold That Thought! Whatsoever is True…
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is TRUE, whatever is HONORABLE, whatever is RIGHTEOUS, whatever is PURE, whatever is WINSOME, whatever is ADMIRABLE, if there is any MORAL EXCELLENCE, if there is anything PRAISEWORTHY… dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8).
Dwell – (Greek, “logizesthe”): an accounting term that literally means to carefully use your reason as you take full account of something; to thoughtfully evaluate something in a sensible way as you consider the worth of something; to calculate with focus and discernment; to personally measure what counts in the eyes of God. In this passage, to dwell on these worthwhile realities is to fix your mind on them, to meditate on them, to fill your mind with them, to focus deeply on them. To dwell on these heavenly realities is to dwell within them, to find a home inside these godly attributes, to think about these things to the extent that you are living into them. To dwell upon these things also means that your mind is creating a home for them to reside deep within you. To dwell upon is to allow these spiritual realities to become a part of your life, dwelling in you and shaping you. These virtues are not merely “passing fancies” or temporary mental events, but are fixed in your mind to the extent that they become a part of your character. The root word for “logizesthe” is the rich, meaningful Greek word “logos.” So, to dwell on these aspects of divine goodness means we are to become “logos-like” in the life of the mind, to think and reason like the heavenly Logos. To be logos-like is to truly use the mind of Logos-Christ which has been given to us. To be logos-like is to actively participate in the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:1-2) within by filling it with that which fills the mind of Christ Himself. To be logos-like is to continue daily the holy process of thinking deeply about those realities that are pleasing to God and would keep drawing us into a personal relationship with Him. Naturally, to choose to dwell on these life-giving realities implies that at the same time we are rejecting those thoughts that are unhealthy, destructive, and unworthy of God’s presence in our lives.
Interesting Thoughts about Thoughts:
(1.) I am what I think. I become what I choose to think about. My character is shaped by the life of my mind. My attitudes are built on the foundations of my thoughts. My lifestyle is determined by whatever I fill my mind with. My destiny begins with my thought life.
(2.) According to the latest brain imaging studies (2022), we each have about 6,200 different thoughts a day. They are called “thought worms” and are distinct, measurable shifts in brain activity that represent the transition from one idea or image to another.
(3.) We each can rewire our brains by how we think. It’s called “cognitive reframing,” based on the plasticity of our brains that are able to build new neural pathways by choosing to think differently. We each have the ability to train our minds to identify harmful thoughts, replace them with life-giving thoughts, and then practice those healthier thoughts through repetition until those new thoughts become a mental habit.
(4.) When dwelling on thoughts like what St. Paul suggested above, we are making new neural pathways that become dominant and succeed in rewiring the brain to have the ability to naturally filter out harmful thoughts and welcome life-giving thoughts.
(5.) When we are “in Christ,” we are inviting God’s Holy Spirit to renew our minds and enable us to rewire our brains, our ways of thinking, which determine our attitudes, behaviors and feelings. Each person hs the ability to do a lot of the legwork in this process, but only the Spirit of God can do the heavy lifting and enable us to think with the “mind of Christ.”
(6.) In this sinful world, harmful thoughts assault us every day, and there’s not much we can do about that. But we can try to keep them at a minimum by not entertaining these thoughts, by not welcoming them into our minds in such a way that we dwell on them and fill our minds with them. As Martin Luther once said about temptations… “We can’t stop the birds from flying overhead, but we can stop them from building a nest in our hair.”
TRUE: (Greek, “alethese”). St. Paul is advising us to fill our minds with thoughts that are undeniably authentic and genuine. Fix our minds on ideas that square with reality and will thus remain standing even if everything else in the world falls part. Truth is the true Reality that upholds the world’s reality, and so truthful thoughts are the building blocks of creation and life itself. Concentrate on that which is true, since truth is that which can never be truly altered or changed. Feed your mind on thoughts that are universally trustworthy as facts of life, that prove to be the foundation of what is truly real in our life experience. Nourish the life of your mind on the plumblines which can measure our lives. Dwell on ideas that are common knowledge in God’s mind and line up with God’s perspectives as established facts, as opposed to a person’s changeable opinions or preferences. Meditate on what is true and so provide the solid ground on which we can walk, as opposed to the uncertain ground of deceit, illusion, disbelief or superstition. Choose to think about the tangible fundamentals of existence that have been issued forth from the intangible mind of God. Focusing on what is true succeeds in nudging out of your mind what is untrue, even when those truths are discounted or disbelieved. Since the Almighty God is the ultimate source of all truth, then it follows that the ultimate presence of truth resides in the Trinity of Truth: Father God is Truth, the Lord Jesus is Truth, and the Holy Spirit is Truth. “All truth is God’s truth.”
Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth (“aletheia”) buckled around your waist… (Ephesians 6:10-20).
Gird the Loins. The original Greek wording of this piece of armor is not to “put on the belt of truth.” Instead, Paul declared that we should “gird up our loins with truth,” or “have your loins girded with truth.” To gird your loins meant at that time to tuck your long tunic or robe into your girdle, or belt, that is around your waist. So “girding up” was done every day… hitch your tunic up and tuck it in, which is only common sense. If one didn’t gird their loins, one would not have the freedom of movement needed to take long strides, or run, or work, or fight. That was the whole purpose of that belt around your hips… to remove the hindrances of those long, restrictive tunics worn by everyone in those days. This very common practice turned into a sort of metaphor, an idiom used by everyone to say: prepare for action, get ready to move, do what you need to do in readiness for work and movement. These days, one might say roll up your sleeves, hitch up our pants, be on your toes, tighten your belt, keep your eyes peeled, or the classic Boy Scouts motto: Always be prepared.
“Therefore, gird the loins of your mind (‘prepare your minds for action’), be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so you be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 19:2)
Gird the Loins of Our Mind. St. Peter makes a significant addition to Paul’s discussion of spiritual warfare. Peter advised us to “gird up the loins of our mind.” Could we have better marching orders as we prepare for our battles with the devil? For the devil tends to attack our minds before anything else, he likes to mess with our head: sowing seeds of doubt; creating confusion in our thinking; blatantly, and sometimes very convincingly, lying to us; making us uncertain in our beliefs; dissuading us from even believing there is a truth. So Peter highlights the fact that in our Christian life, it is a sin to be mentally lazy and complacent. Laziness in our thinking plays right into the hands of Satan. Instead, we are to be ready to outthink our opposition. We are not to settle for intellectual mediocrity in any way. We are to have our loins girded by committing ourselves to the truth of Jesus. We are to have a settled conviction of the truth so that it is a much-used reference point in the warfare of the mind. We are to be clear thinkers, we are to have our minds engaged at all times. We are to have our loins girded in order to be agile and free in our thinking, and ready to fight the devil. The belt of truth will guard our minds as we prepare for battle. This is the first piece of equipment that Paul mentions regarding the full armor of God, and for good reason. We simply are not ready for the devil’s clever warfare if we are not mentally prepared and thoughtfully ready for action. Knowing the truth intimately and walking in that truth is the first vital piece of spiritual protection for us.
Filling our Minds with What is True. Is there something concrete we can point to as Christians that sums up the gospel truths that we will dwell on, that we will bind to us in the spiritual warfare Paul refers to in Ephesians 6? Fortunately, yes, there is a summary of Christian belief that was written in 300 AD or so by the leaders of the Christian church at that time. They were trying to help believers distinguish between the falsehoods that were becoming popular and the truth as found in Scripture. There were a number of such creeds, but the Nicene Creed is a wonderful summary. We would do well to gird the loins of our mind with this statement of truth.
THE NICENE CREED
“We believe in one God,
The Father, the Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
Of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
The only Son of God,
Eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
True God from true God,
Begotten not made,
Of one Being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
For us and our salvation He came down from heaven;
By the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
And was made man.
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge to living and the dead,
And His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Give of Life,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic (universal) Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
And the life of the world to come. Amen.”
Mission Statement of Jesus. What led up to Pilate’s famous question “What is truth?” as he stood toe-to-toe with Jesus? What prompted Pilate’s question was the Son of God giving His life purpose in one sentence: to “bear witness to the truth.” Jesus took on flesh in order to reveal the indisputable fact of God’s existence in the world. Jesus testified to the truth by revealing Himself, the Author of truth. Jesus came into the world to show us that truth actually exists. He became incarnate to show the world what God’s living Truth looks like in real life. The Father was clear about His request of the Son. I want you to bear witness to the truth, He instructed. I want you to save the world we so carefully created, He said. I want you to be truth in the flesh on the earth, God to the rescue representing the truth of my love. Did the Father send the Son on a fool’s errand? Maybe, if you mean that Jesus was a holy fool.
“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” (Blaise Pascal, French scientist, mid-17th century).