Right Action Follows Right Thinking

Where the Mind Goes, the Man Follows

And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind

[having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude].

Ephesians 4:23 (AMPC)

There is a life-changing principle shown throughout God's Word, and no person will ever truly make progress unless they understand it: Right action follows right thinking.

In other words, you will not change your behavior until you change your thoughts.

Let’s look at Ephesians 4:22-24 (AMPC). Verse 22 says, Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion.

Then verse 24 continues the thought by saying, And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God's image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness.

We see that verse 22 basically tells us to stop acting improperly, and verse 24 tells us to begin acting properly. But verse 23 is what I call "the bridge scripture." It tells us how to get from verse 22 (acting improperly) to verse 24 (acting properly):

And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude].

It is impossible to get from wrong behavior to right behavior without first changing our thoughts. A passive person may want to do the right thing, but he never will do so unless he purposely activates his mind and lines it up with God's Word and will.

I’ll never forget one man who came to us for prayer years ago. He was struggling with lust. He really loved his wife and did not want their marriage to be destroyed, but his problem needed to be solved or things weren’t going to work out well.

That day, the Lord spoke to my heart and had me share this very principle. I told the man, "Yes, I will pray for you, but you must be accountable for what you are allowing to show on the picture screen of your mind. You cannot look at pornography or visualize it in your mind if you ever want to enjoy freedom."

I’m using a serious example because this is where the enemy begins his attacks. The mind is often an area where people first indulge in sin. The way for sinful action is paved through sinful thinking.

This principle also applies to every area of our lives—big and small. For instance, if I constantly think mean, hateful thoughts about a co-worker, it will be very difficult for me to truly be nice to them when I’m with them.

Or maybe I’m attempting to get in shape and not eat as many sweets. But if I daydream about eating chocolate cupcakes all day, there’s a good chance I will eventually eat one!

Where the mind goes, the man follows. That’s why it’s so important to fill our minds with God’s Word and choose to think in ways that will honor Him and help us walk out His good plan for our lives.

Prayer: “Father, please continue to help me ‘think about what I’m thinking about.’ Show me areas where my thoughts are leading me in the wrong direction. And when the negative thoughts come, help me to make a habit of replacing them with something positive and good from your Word. I can only do it with Your help! In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Walk It Out: Take a few moments to reflect. How do your thoughts affect your moods and your behavior—what you say and how you act? Identify at least one area of your life where you would like to see growth. What types of thoughts will help you to get there?