Some years ago there was a television programme called You are what you eat. It was designed to get participants to lose weight by highlighting problem areas of their diet. In a much more profound sense however, you are what you think. Thoughts are the very fabric of our lives. The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius said, ‘Our life is what our thoughts make it.’
The Greek philosopher Epictetus warned that such was the power of thoughts that we ought to be more concerned about removing negative ones from the mind than removing tumours and abscesses from the body. His statement is reinforced throughout Scripture, which continually calls on believers to protect their minds and to control their thoughts because they are real, living, and powerful things. Proverbs 4:23 says, ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.’
The reason why the Bible is so resolute in its message to protect the mind is because we are deeply influenced by the thoughts that dominate our thinking. If our minds are filled with fear, doubt, and disbelief, then our lives will reflect these characteristics. This message is particularly relevant following recent years which have witnessed a pandemic, war in Europe, and renewed conflict in the Middle East.
Day after day our minds have been saturated with messages of fear, terror, and hopelessness. The consistently negative drip-feeding via social media and news outlets has demoralised the minds of many, including believers.
