Don’t think of a pink elephant! What did you think about? Odds are, even in a split second, you thought about a pink elephant and, odds are, you’ve probably heard this little trick more times than you could count. The phenomenon is known as the “ironic process theory,” whereby attempts to suppress certain thoughts actually make them likely to surface. This is a fairly new theory to the world of psychology, having only been first studied by social psychologist Daniel Wegner in 1987. While the term is fairly new, the fact is not and many of us don’t need to be told about this phenomenon as you are all too well aware of it. Even the apostle Paul seemed to be aware of it.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” (Philippians 4:8)

“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

“Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” (Colossians 3:2-4)

Paul must have known what it was like to battle with one’s own thoughts, and he gives some practical advise, some things to fix our thoughts on when thoughts we shouldn’t think arise. Paul tells us to think about the things of heaven, things that cannot be seen, things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. In Romans 12:2, Paul takes this advice a step further. To get a more complete understanding of this verse, we are going to look at both the International Standard Version and the New Living Translation.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, ISV)

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NLT)

So we’ve been given other things to think about, but now Paul goes into steps we can take to help prevent things we shouldn’t think about from ever entering our mind. First, we need to not copy the behavior and customs of this world. This is key because we can fail at this one thing and the battle over our thoughts becomes more difficult. If you are copying behaviors of this world, it’s going to be a lot harder to fix your thoughts away from this world and onto the things of heaven. Consider how much of the world you are conforming yourself to, especially with all the time we have on our hands nowadays. What do you read more of: the Bible or social media feeds? Do you listen to more secular music or praise music? Do you watch more things that bring honor and praise to God or things that celebrate this world, things filled with language, violence, and/or nudity? If you are steeped in this world and the things it offers, if you are constantly filling yourself with the things this world produces, then the things of this world are what you are going to think about.

The next thing from Romans 12 is that we allow God to transform us into a new person—but notice in the language that this is a continual thing. It’s not a one-and-done thing, it’s not going to be like flipping on a light switch and all of a sudden your entire mind is completely renewed and your thoughts are constantly fixed on the right things. We will be continuously transformed by God through the renewing of our minds, and this can happen on a daily basis as we focus more on God and less on this world.

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” (Isaiah 26:3)

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

We will experience peace when we fix our thoughts on God. 2 Corinthians 10:5 refers more to apologetics than it does to our own rebellious thoughts, but we too can capture our thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. If you begin to experience the ironic process theory, if something you know you shouldn’t be thinking about pops in your head, it’s no excuse to dwell on it. Capture that thought and make it obedient to Christ.

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” (James 4:17)

Fix your thoughts on the things that are unseen, and when those rebellious thoughts of the past come flooding into your mind, start thinking about what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. A great way to do this is pull out your phone and turn on some worship music. Open your Bible app and go to some psalms of praise or psalms of rescue, like Psalm 117, 134, 32, or 23. You are in charge of what you think. Fix your thoughts on the Lord; capture any rebellious thoughts and make them obedient to Christ. Don’t be so conformed to this world that you can’t think about the unseen things of heaven.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

—Redeemed