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. – Philippians 4:8
I am sure you have heard the old cliché, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” That is all well and good unless the lemons are poisoned. Yes, I said it correctly, poisoned. A farmer in Florida once found himself in a mess. This is how Dale Carnegie tells the story:
I once visited a happy farmer down in Florida who turned even a poisoned lemon into lemonade. When he first got his farm, he was discouraged. The land was so wretched he could neither grow fruit nor raise pigs. Nothing thrived there but scrub oaks and rattlesnakes. Then he got his idea. He would turn his liability into an asset: he would make the most of these rattlesnakes. To everyone’s amazement, he started canning rattlesnake meat. When I stopped to visit him a few years ago, I found that the tourists were pouring in to see his rattlesnake farm at the rate of twenty thousand a year. His business was thriving. I saw poison from the fangs of his rattlers being shipped to laboratories to make antivenom toxin; I saw rattlesnake skins being sold at fancy prices to make women’s shoes and handbags. I saw canned rattlesnake meat being shipped to customers all over the world. I bought a picture postcard of the place and mailed it to the local post office of the village, which had been rechristened “Rattlesnake, Florida,” in honor of a man who had turned a poisoned lemon into a sweet lemonade.[1]
Before I go any further, I must give a warning. As healthy as positive thinking is, our faith rests not in positive thinking itself. The idea that positive thinking saves a person’s heartache has roots in the writing and preaching of the late minister Norman Vincent Peale.[2] And it continues today’s guise as “spiritualism,” “New Age” spirituality/religion, “eclecticism,” “self-help,” and others. And it is promoted and taught by Oprah, Deepak Chopra, Rhonda Byrne, Wayne Dyer, and Tony Robbins, to name a few.
Christians realize positive thinking is rooted first and foremost in Christ alone (Rom. 6:23, Acts 4:12). Indeed, it is in Christ that our hope is found (Psa. 60; Col. 1:27; Phil. 4:19). After all, the definition of faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). So, the Bible teaches that first element to true positive thinking is faith in Christ.
However, the second element of positive thinking is trust in the sovereignty of God. Jesus helps us understand this when he talks about some of the smallest creatures on earth and some minor parts of the human body. Jesus says, Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Since the heavenly Father gives constant sovereign supervision even to seemingly insignificant creatures, he will indeed care for his disciples. So, the believer’s foundation for thinking positively is God’s sovereignty and faith in Christ alone.
When we have the foundation settled, we can understand what Paul speaks about in Philippians 4:8. Bruce Hurt rightly reminds us that the mind cannot be at rest. It is not blank. No matter what one might do, one cannot think of two thoughts simultaneously because the thoughts will pull a person in two different ways and cause anxiety.[3] By the way, you may notice positive biblical thinking is another way of saying, do not worry (Matt. 6:34). In the context of verse eight, Paul says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:6-7).
In our verse, Paul gives us another way to deal with worry and anxiety. He teaches another way to think positively, which is to think one directionally. Since fear and anxiety are conditions of the mind, one biblical principle is to focus on healthier thoughts. The Holy Spirit helps us do this as He works with our spirit (Phil. 2:13). And Paul says that through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, our minds transform (Rom. 12:2ff). What are our minds transformed to do? Paul states to give God our spiritual service of worship…. that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
A believer cannot give that which is good, acceptable, and perfect if one is thinking poorly, pitifully, and partially. The direction of one’s thoughts is crucial to glorifying God. A saying goes, “Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw the mud, and the other saw the stars.” The Puritan, John Owen, wrote the following to Oliver Cromwell, “In the sanctification of believers, the Holy Ghost does work in them, their whole souls, that their mind and wills, and affections, a gracious supernatural habit, principle, and disposition of living unto God, herein the substance of essence, the life and being of holiness does consist.”[4] Notice that Owen suggests that the positive thinking which occurs in the whole souls, minds, and wills is a supernatural habit of living unto God.
Because of the fall of humanity (Gen. 2&3) and the depravity that ensued within its heart (Psa. 143:2, Jer. 17:9, Rom. 3:23), we have a unique ability for disparaging, doubtful, and dubious thinking. Walt Whitman said in his poem “Song of Myself” that he could live with animals because they never worry or dwell on troublesome thoughts.[5] However, Christians are taken out of an unregenerate person’s position. The Holy Spirit gives covenant children new hearts and minds. We are given the gift of the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). Positive thinking is proper thinking, and neither is optional for the Christian life. Spiritual stability is a result of how a person thinks. Proverbs 23:7 states as he thinks within himself, so he is. Therefore, I encourage you to be adamant about setting your mind on the things that will bring Christlikeness to your life. There is no better way to put into practice Philippians 4:8 than to occupy your mind with the Word of God, which perfectly fills all the categories.
[1] Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984), 152-153.
[2] Peale was a minister in the Reformed Church in America. He got involved in integrationist Freudian psychology and preached, taught, and wrote from this perspective. His teachings certainly were “positive” but they were not Gospel and became worse as years wore on. Prominent people such as William Miller and Ronald Niebuhr spoke against Peale’s teachings.
[3] Bruce Hurt, Philippians 4:8 Commentary. https://www.preceptaustin.org/philippians_48-13. Accessed on January 25, 2023, at 4:20 PM.
[4] John Owen, The Works of John Owen, vol. 3 (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, 1965), 2. I made a couple of minor changes to make the language more modern.
[5] Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Leaves of Grass and Other Writings. Ed. Michael Moon. New York: Norton, 2002.
Andrews PCA 