“As We Think In Our Heart”
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles Tags: Bulletin Articles on the HeartPaul said that all foods were created by God and were to be received with thanksgiving of them that believe and know the truth. In the same context, he stated that “every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:3-4).
Paul’s statements to Timothy were directed to those who were forbidding the eating of certain foods on religious grounds. He tells him that whatever is fit for human consumption is not religiously unclean, and is to be eaten with a clear conscience.
Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 6:13, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats,” which means that God designed a lawful and practical function to both the receptacle of food and food itself – each complements the other.
However, both the belly and food will eventually be destroyed – neither has a permanence about them. His point by comparison here is that there is also a lawful and practical function to the body, and it is not for fornication, but to serve the Lord and His purposes.
The human mind is also a receptacle and, in the same way, that which it receives is to complement its purpose of existence. There is a God-designed food for thought which nourishes the soul and builds strong character.
Paul instructs us to, “Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). Then in Philippians 4:8, Paul exhorts the brethren, “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
According to the Proverb writer, we literally are what we think (Proverbs 23:7). The bottom line is that evil thoughts produce evil actions and character, while good thoughts produce good actions and character (Genesis 6:5; Proverbs 6:18; Proverbs 15:26; Acts 10:38).
Jesus affirmed these truths when He stated, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man” (Matthew 15:19-20).
Actions are directly connected to thoughts, and are a product of what the mind conceives. One might ask, “What determines the thoughts the mind ingests?”
The answer is the thoughts and intent of the heart, or mind (cf. Acts 5:4; Acts 8:22).