According to one little boy, "Thinking is when your mouth stays shut and your head keeps talking to itself."

The way our head talks to itself tells a lot about how we are doing morally and spiritually. To guard our mind and to keep out the influences that will hinder our walk with God is to use our mind in the way He desires.

The Bible gives us clear guidelines—spelling out the kinds of things we should think about. For example, Psalm 1:2 and Psalm 119:97 tell us to meditate on God's Word day and night. That should be our first priority in the thinking department.

But we have a life to live, and we can't spend all of our waking moments meditating on Scripture. Yet even when we are thinking about the mundane aspects of life, we need guidance. Paul told us that we should think about things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). In our daily activities, those words should govern what is on our mind.

When our head "talks to itself," it needs to say, "Keep the impure and ungodly thoughts out of here!" When we're thinking that way, we'll know what to do, how to behave, where to go, and what to say.  — Dave Branon