How We Think Determines our Actions!

Many people believe they are good people when they have never been born again. The jail is full of criminals who believe they are basically good people.

Proverbs 23:7
"7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you."

The way we think determines our actions, not what we think about ourselves but how we process information in general.

Proverbs 23:9 is the context of the 23:7 verse:

"If you are a man of great appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.
4 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
Cease from your consideration of it.
5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
6 Do not eat the bread of [d]a selfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up [f]the morsel you have eaten,
And waste your [g]compliments.
9 Do not speak in the [h]hearing of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of your words."

If someone is not thinking with the mind of Christ their actions will reflect worldliness. If someone thinks with the mind of Christ their actions will demonstrate righteousness. However what we choose to believe about ourselves is not the issue here, it is how we think in general and how we process information about everything.

The poster I shared previously comes from the psychological teaching that we can make ourselves be something by just thinking it. When we are worldly it won't matter what we think about ourselves we are what we are, that is thinking with a fallen mind. Just thinking we are good does not make it so.

Conversely if we are born again we process information according to the Bible, it has nothing to do with working up what we want to believe about ourselves. We will think like Christ if we are born again, without even attempting to convince ourselves about ourselves. The born again believer should not be thinking they are wonderful because they know Christ is only good.

1 Corinthians 2:13-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.…"

In the psychological community there is a teaching that all you have to do is think you will be president of the United States and you will make it happen. Its based on the power of ones mind rather than on the character and abilities of a man.

A person acts based on what they are not how they think. How they think is evidenced by their character not what they wish to believe about themselves.

I have known many people who boast about how well they are doing but the evidence shows they are not doing well, but they think so anyway because its what they wish to believe about themselves. I see this all the time.

Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.

What are the fruit? The fruit is character qualities of the Holy Spirit. The "Fruit of the Spirit."

Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

The born again believer should be able to discern these character qualities in others or the lack of these qualities. God mentioned this to us so that we will be able to judge who is of God and who is not. One of the clues is that a born again believer does not boast about how good they are, they know it is only Christ Who is good.

God gives the born again believer discernment to judge right from wrong and the character of others when we ask to know.