October 19, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

The very first mention of evil in the Bible is in Genesis 2:9. In the midst of the garden of Eden God created a tree called …the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is the tree from which  Adam and Eve ate causing their eyes to be opened. God commanded them to not eat of that tree, but they did. Part of the Lord’s testimony concerning this action was And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil... Genesis 3:22. This singular action brought forth to mankind the awful consciousness of evil.

Evil means wicked, perils, annoyances, hardships, or bad (Strongs Concordance). Evil thoughts are on equal standing with the most heinous of sins. Evil thoughts must be identified, confessed as sinful, and forsaken. But, notice. These evil thoughts proceed out of the heart. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…  In order for the mind to be free from evil thoughts the heart has to be changed. Therein we have a problem.

The prophet Jeremiah said, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Truer words have never been spoken. The most assured way to have a change of heart is to let God do the changing. Do you remember the story of Saul the first King of Israel? God gave him a new heart, and he became another man, one fit to lead the Nation of Israel (I Samuel 10). Ezekiel prophesied twice that God would give His people a new heart (Ezekiel 18:31, 36:26). Peter’s heart was changed, Paul’s heart was changed, Jonah’s heart was changed; throughout the Bible ample stories of people and the way God changed their hearts are in abundance.

God can still change the hearts of people today! If any person senses that they have an evil heart that encourages evil thoughts, they can be changed. The heart can be changed. The Holy Spirit is a heart surgeon; He can surgically remove evil from a heart and put love, grace, mercy and peace in it instead. All the patient needs to do is ask.

May the Lord bless and be pleased with your thought life today.

Dr. William Howe