December 12, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

How sobering. God says that …the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I thought I was the only one that struggles with my imagination. Evidently I have company. A lot of company!

Some may think that they have no evil imagination issues. Of those let me ask, when trouble comes into your life do you leap for joy knowing that God is going to use that experience for your good and betterment? Or instead do you worry, fret, and become overly concerned about the future? If so, you too have problems associated with an evil imagination. That statement is based on the fact that it is only an evil imagination that does not believe the Bible. God’s Word states the following about trouble: Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)  Only a mind that imagines evil things would not believe and live in light of these and many other similar verses. Yes, from time to time we all struggle with evil imaginations.

Then there are those who think that their imagination is so evil that they are alone in their turmoil and can never be a benefit to God or His churches. For those who fall into this category, think about this, which one of God’s people that He has used in the last 6,600 years of recorded history did not struggle with wicked imaginations? In Paul’s imagination before he was saved there must have been the belief that Jesus was an outlaw, a usurper, a charlatan, a con artist, anything but the Son of God. Paul was wrong. Peter had an evil imagination of what the civil leaders would do to those who followed Christ, so he lied about it, cursed because of it, and altogether renounced Jesus by that warm fire on that cold, cold night. But God used Peter to preach on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 souls came to accept Christ as the Messiah.

Yes, our imaginations may be only evil from our youth, but thanks be to God that we can grow out of that! Paul stated it like this: When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (I Corinthians 13:11)  Of all the childish things we need to put away, the evil imagination from our heart is a big one. How are you doing?

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

Dr. William Howe