Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

People are usually more concerned about what they do more than what they think. No one really knows what we’re thinking about, but it’s a lot easier to see what we’re doing. We don’t want to trouble ourselves with cleaning up our thought life, as long as our actions appear right and good.

The Apostle Paul in our verse for today, however, wants to encourage us to live up to a higher standard. We should not just clean up our outward life, but also our inward life. Those of us in Christ live by the Spirit and “those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit,” (Romans 8:5). If our minds are fixed on things other than what’s on Paul’s list, then something is amiss.

Sometimes, all it takes to clean up our inward life is to simply become aware of what we’re thinking about. Becoming aware of thoughts of hatred, jealousy, unforgiveness, bitterness, or lust allows us to deal with them quickly and make a course correction.

At other times, it’s a lot more difficult to gain control of our thoughts. It is then we must turn to the Lord to repent, ask for forgiveness, and help. Our prayer should be the prayer David prayed after his exposure of adultery and murder: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,” (Psalm 51:10).

Let’s not allow discouragement into our minds if things don’t progress as quickly as we would like. After all, discouragement is not one of the things on Paul’s list. Getting our minds right is a life-long process.