Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
Let your mind “dwell” on these things. Let nothing other than the goodness of Christ Jesus reside within you. Those who do not rise from their bed every morning with the intention of thinking true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely thoughts will be overtaken by the lusts of the flesh. Like the evil spirit that returns again to the one who does not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:24-26), so also will he who does not give his mind completely to Christ experience the presence of evil thoughts. The mind that does not think as the Spirit requires will undoubtedly think as the flesh sees fit. And the one that sets his mind on the flesh will never experience true peace. “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
To the Christian whose mind dwells solely on that which is “of good repute,” not only will the “peace of God” (v. 6) remain within you, but the very “God of peace shall be with you” (v. 9). It is for this very reason that Paul so adamantly does away with the things of this world, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,” he pursues that which God has called him to, counting a pure mind as something to be grasped, he “presses on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13, 14).