“Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking” (2 Peter 3:1).
Wholesome thinking! Peter told his readers exactly why he’d written two letters to them. He wanted to stimulate them to wholesome thinking. Those words popped off the page as I read them recently. I, for one, don’t spend much time thinking about my thinking. Peter reminded me wholesome thinking is important. Our words and actions come from our thinking.
Jesus told His listeners that evil deeds begin with evil thoughts. (See Mark 7:20-23) The Apostle Paul told the Philippians (and us) how we should think.
“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” Philippians 4:8.
Wholesome thinking includes all of these: things that are true, noble, right, pure, etc. So when I begin to think about things that make me wallow in self-pity or make me angry and frustrated, or are sinful and immoral I must train my mind to move on to that which is wholesome. I can’t stop thoughts from entering my mind but I can choose to think about something else.
Maybe self-pity becomes thoughts of the lovely things around me or the pure and noble friends in my life. Perhaps those thoughts would move me to think and do something for others rather than dwelling on “poor me.”
Thinking of things that make me angry and frustrated might motivate me to think about ways to solve the problem or if it’s out of my control, to give it to God. Prayer is a powerful way to move our thoughts from unwholesome to wholesome. God is holy and almighty. He can be trusted even with our thoughts.
King David asked God to “create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). David’s impure thoughts led him to immoral behavior when he took another man’s wife. He knew God was the only One who could create a pure heart in place of his impure heart.
Dear God, please clean my thinking today. Help my mind not to dwell in places of unwholesome thinking. Renew my mind to the wholesomeness you desire. Then I can be useful as Your servant, obeying and honoring You. Amen
Thanks for this wonderful reminder. It seems that I often need physical exercise to get my mind on a healthy, more wholesome track. So a double benefit?
Blessings to you and your family.