I was driving my boys to a friend’s house and got terribly lost. They were too young to help and this was before cell phones and GPS, so I just drove around hopelessly talking to myself. In frustration I sort of yelled, “I am so confused I can’t even think straight!” The most literal of my children then replied from the car seat in the back, “So are you thinking crooked?” Crooked thinking is what gets the best of us, and we lose our minds. In my case this is not always a bad thing because my mind is the source of so much of my trouble.
In Romans 12:2, God tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” “Conform” means to bend to and around something. I picture an accident featuring a speeding car and a stationary pole. The car has indeed bent in half to conform to the pole. It’s hard to tell where one stops and the other begins. That’s what happens when we can’t keep our own thoughts separate from the culture that surrounded us. We are changed in our thinking from the outside in instead of God’s way from the inside out. Instead of reflecting the mind of Christ, we look just like the world around us.
I am discovering that changing this takes a lot of work. I have to pursue a different way of thinking, which means I’ve got to run after it, go get it, actively apprehend it. God offers help when I can ask Him to examine my thought life and helps me to think His way. “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind “(Ps. 26:2).
The Bible provides many ways to replace our thoughts with His. My personal favorite is Philippians 4:8, “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.”
When I can tell I am thinking crooked, I take my thoughts and situation and ask, “Does anything in my mind fit in the blanks below?” I mean anything—pray and struggle until you find something:
TRUE (real, authentic, sincere, accurate, correct) ________________
RIGHT (in conformity with fact, reason, some standard, or principle, ethically, morally, or legally proper) _______________
NOBLE (of an admirable quality) _______________
PURE (straightforward or unaffected; untainted with evil or guilt) ___________
LOVELY (a beauty that appeals to the heart or mind, as well as the eye, highly pleasing) __________________
ADMIRABLE (to regard highly, with respect often mixed with wonder) __________
EXCELLENT (possessing outstanding quality: remarkably good) __________________
PRAISEWORTHY (deserving of praise) ______________________
Sometimes I need to see things written down, so when my mind begins to wander, I grab a pen and get to work. By the time I am done, I find that God has guarded my mind and changed the way I think. As it says in Proverbs 3:6, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
When I speak to God rather than myself and allow His Word to inform my crooked thinking, He sets me straight and makes it well with my mind.
