Philippians - Foundation Of Thought

Throughout this series, I have repeatedly said that this letter's context matters greatly. Paul was not writing this letter in his study. He was not sitting down at sunrise, watching morning birds sing on branches of olive trees while sipping coffee and smelling bacon on the stove.

Paul was under house arrest. He had been chained up. Locked down. His freedom was restricted. He had Roman Soldiers standing over him, telling him when to wake up and go to sleep.  

Paul was in a miserable place, but instead of allowing his mind and thoughts to travel down the road of despair, he demonstrated control over his thought life. He COULD have complained. He could have moaned and groaned about how life was not fair – and he could have written that “God must not really love him because of the bad stuff he was experiencing.”

Instead, Paul wrote this:

Philippians 4:8-9 

8  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. 

Outside of all the passages explaining how to be forgiven for your sins and experience new life in Jesus, this is one of the passages followers of Jesus should memorize. If you are a follower of Jesus… 

By that, I mean you have surrendered your life to God by trusting in Jesus as the only way to be forgiven for your sins. You believed by faith that Jesus paid the price for your sins, that he died on the cross, that he rose from the dead, and that one day he will return…and you have committed to following Him.

If you have made that commitment to Him – then from now until you meet Jesus face to face, you are in the process of becoming more and more like Jesus every single day. 

And the key to becoming more like Jesus is to follow the instruction that Paul leaves us in Philippians 4:8…It involves using our BRAIN.  

Studies tell us that our brains produce up to 50,000 thoughts daily, and roughly 75% are negative.  That means 37,500 thoughts we think every day are NEGATIVE! 

We let our big, powerful brain wander, and too often it settles on the negative. We think about what’s wrong at work, in our families, or with our health. We allow our brain to wander to depressing, negative thoughts, rather than telling our brain to think what we want it to! But the Bible teaches us that our outlook on life can be changed. Paul had every reason to have negative thoughts.  His life wasn’t easy. This man had been beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and thrown into prison countless times. 

Listen to the hardships he experienced.  He said: 

2 Corinthians 11:23b-27 

23….I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24  Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25  Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26  I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27  I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 

Paul had every reason to be negative, bitter and frustrated. He had every reason not to trust people, be skeptical about others, and question their motives. He could’ve easily let his mind wander and think:

“Life isn’t fair.” 

“Why is this happening to me?”

“God set Peter free from prison; he must not love me as much.”

But he didn’t. Instead, he locked in on what was true and praiseworthy. He knew something that we sometimes forget: our thoughts don’t have to be controlled by our circumstances. He didn’t pretend everything was fine, but he controlled his mind and focused on what God was doing, not what he was feeling.

So, how do we overcome the 37,000 negative thoughts that come at us daily? It’s simple; we take control.

Because…

POSITIVE THOUGHTS ARE BETTER THAN NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Positive thoughts are better than negative thoughts.   

You and I have the ability to reject negativity and think positively.

We have negative thoughts about people at work.

…about our jobs.

…about our families.

…about our spouse.

…about our neighbors.

…about our future.

…about our health.

…about one another.

…about the utilities company.

…about our finances…

Negative thoughts about others weigh us with suspicions, doubts, and anger. Negative thoughts about ourselves weigh us down with poor self-image. But thinking positively can make such a great difference in our lives. I think that is why Paul challenged these early followers of Jesus to think about POSITIVE things:

Philippians 4:8 

8  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Paul’s message is simple:

YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR THOUGHT LIFE!

If you want to change your life, it starts with changing the way you think. 

Before changing our lives, we must realize that real change begins in our minds.

• If you want to break a bad habit, it starts in your mind.

• If you want to improve your marriage, it starts in your mind.

• If you want to change how you talk to your kids, that change starts in your mind.

Our thought life is the foundation of everything we do. In fact, everything we do and say is a result of our thoughts. You being here today? It’s a result of your thoughts. At some point, you said, “I’m going to church this weekend.” 

So,  

If you want to change:

addictions

loneliness

anxiety

fear

criticism

negativity

communication

relationships

Paul tells us to fix our minds on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Rather than thinking bad thoughts about your family, your co-workers, your relationships, your children, your future…

Start thinking POSITIVE thoughts. Rather than living with fear…live positively filled with hope.

Now look, if a Doctor has diagnosed you with depression or anxiety and has prescribed meds – keep following the advice of your Doctor.  Stay on your medication – but do the hard work to, and tell your brain to think positively.

And, there is always the “Negative Nancy and the Debbie Downer.” 

They try to defend their negative opinions about others by saying, “I’m just trying to be realistic and honest.” They say something bad about the person, and then they say, “Bless their heart.”

But there is a problem with that. Our opinion about others can be wrong!

We are told in Proverbs:

Proverbs 3:5 (NLT) 

5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 

Our understanding can be way off! We like to think we’ve got it all figured out, but how often are we wrong? I’ll give you an example…

One day, I used my brain and thought, “The car needs an oil change.” So, I took my car to where I always take it – and they scanned the code and told me I had never been there before. They kind of suggested I was wrong about having been there before – so in my pride, my thoughts said, “I’ll just change it myself.”  

Trust me, that was a bad thought that led to a bad decision! I drove to O’Reilly’s and bought 5 quarts of oil, an oil filter, and an oil filter wrench.  Even though it had been 25 years since I changed my own oil, I would prove to myself I could still do it.  

(I don’t need some oil change place to do it for me…)

I put the car's front end up on jackstands inside the garage, I lay underneath the car, and I immediately thought of a friend’s dad who died when he was changing the oil in his car, and the car fell on him. So, I climbed back out – examined the jack stands, shook the car a few times…, and climbed back under the car…still weary of the jacks.

Then Kristy came out and said, “I just keep thinking about that man who died…”

I thanked Kristy for the encouragement. I turned that oil pan bolt loose and the oil flowed down my arms, hands and into my hair. For the next two days, my coffee tasted like oil. One prideful, stubborn thought led to a poor decision. GOD does not want you and I to depend upon our understanding because we are LIMITED in our understanding.  

Like we talked about last week. We do not see the big picture like He does.  Our assumptions, suspicions, and conclusions are often WRONG. But when we gain control of our thoughts and begin to think about what is good, right, pure, excellent and worthy of praise, we will discover that…

GODLY THINKING LEADS TO GODLY LIVING AND GOD’S PRESENCE

After Paul told these believers to control their thought lives, he then began to point to himself as an example to follow:

Look at verse 9. 

Philippians 4:9 

9  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. 

Paul was now pointing at his own life. 

The way he lived.  

The admired Paul.

They respected Paul.

They valued his wisdom and understanding.

And the reason they did is because Paul allowed the Spirit of God to direct his thought life.  Godly thinking leads to Godly living. If you want to experience the presence of God in your relationships, have a better attitude toward those around you!

(This is why it is so important for followers of Jesus to read the Bible and talk to Jesus.  The more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him.)

So, what do we do with those negative thoughts when they creep in? When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he addressed thoughts that kept people from experiencing a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

He said:

2 Corinthians 10:5  

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

Paul was speaking about the rebellious thoughts of others. These rebellious thoughts were keeping others from coming to know Christ as Savior. He was “capturing” their thoughts and teaching them to obey Christ.

So, what do we do with the thoughts that pull us down or keep us from experiencing the peace God promises? 

First, we acknowledge them. Then, we capture them. We ask God to help us replace them with His truth. Paul's life wasn't easy. He had every reason to focus on the negative, but instead, he fixed his mind on what is true, honorable, and worthy of praise. 

And we can do the same. The key to real change in our lives starts with how we think. Maybe you're sitting here today and tired of the same negative patterns playing repeatedly in your mind. Maybe you're ready for a change in your relationships, your habits, or how you see yourself. 

When negative thoughts creep in, don't ignore them—capture them. Stop. Ask God to help you replace them with His truth. Find one thing—just one—that you can praise God for in that moment. And as you keep doing this, watch how God transforms your heart, mind, and life.