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TranscriptIntroduction
I’m your host AMBrewster, and I really hope you caught our last 5 episodes all about Expectational Education. Expectational Education is an educational philosophy that I have been working on for decades and which sits at the roots of my children and students educational success.
I hope you’ll listen to that 5-part series, and I’d be honored to speak to your organization about it or coach you as you implement the system in your classroom and home. The rest of this season is going to have similar threads wending their way through it. We’re going to talk a lot about thinking and developmental stages and teaching, and I’m very excited to talk about our topic today. That title of the show is “Do Your Kids Know What It Is to Think,” and the answer is “No,” unless you’ve intentionally taught them to think the way God created them to think. If not, they may not know how to think at all, or they know how to think the wrong ways. Now, this topic should probably be its own series, but we’re going to fly through it in one episode. That means there will be plenty of things to digest now and even more things for us to say about it later. So, as always, you can access the free episode notes, transcript, and related resources in the description of today’s episode. What will it require to teach our kids how to think? Let’s open God’s Word to find out. Topic
Have you ever used something differently than it was created to be used? I have. I’ve done everything from using a wrench to hammer a nail to bending computer programs beyond their programming.
When it comes to the physiospiritual union between our brains and our minds, God has created it to function in specific ways, but—just like everything else in the Scriptures—God’s truth is quite often counterintuitive and requires His power to understand and implement it. Therefore, we should never just assume that thinking biblically comes naturally to anyone simply because the person appears to have a healthy and functioning brain. Even Christians are repeatedly admonished in Scripture to think the right ways because we simply don’t do it naturally. You may remember me quoting Thomas Sowell in our discussions about emotions. He said, “It is not merely that Johnny can’t read, or even that Johnny can’t think. Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is, because thinking is so often confused with feeling in many public schools.” We’re going to talk about this observation, and so many more as we study just some of what the Bible has to say about what thinking is and how we’re supposed to do it. But before we dive into that, today’s episode is being brought to you by Evermind Ministries. I am the president of Evermind Ministries, and Truth.Love.Family. is part of Evermind Ministries. That’s why if you download the Evermind App, you can access resources from Truth.Love.Family. AMBrewster Ministries, Faithtree Biblical Counseling & Discipleship, and The Year Long Celebration of God. And right now, we’re offering over a 50% discount off the Doctrine of Emotion online course. Instead of paying $25, you can pay just $10 for an updated selection of biblical resources all about emotions. Use the link in the description of today’s episode to gain access to the Doctrine of Emotion whether you’ve already created an account in the Evermind App or not. And now let’s look at what God has to say about our thinking. 1. Teach your children that the mind and the heart are the same thing. We have so many resources about this point, that I don’t want to belabor it here. But if this is the first time you’ve heard a claim like this, it’s really pretty simple. Most modern men conceptualize the heart as being the seat of our emotions. But biblically speaking, the mind, the heart, and the spirit of a man are all the same concept. They’re all described using similar terms, they all have the same expectations on them, and none of the information about the mind, heart, or spirit has anything to do with Pure Emotions. If you’re uncertain what that is, definitely make sure you get access to the Doctrine of Emotions. Knowing that the mind and heart are the same . . . 2. Teach your kids that valuable thinking does not come naturally to us. I Corinthians 3:18, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.” We humans do what is right in our own eyes. We are blind and delusional little sheep with no concept of what’s right or good or best. We unconsciously float through life on an emotional autopilot simply doing whatever feels good in the moment. But we are deceived. Jeremiah 17:9 teaches that our hearts are desperately wicked and more deceitful than anything else. We’re not even capable of realizing how poorly we think when we’re thinking in the flesh. We need divine intervention. That’s why you need to . . . 3. Teach your kids that they can’t think right if they aren’t born again. Listen to Romans 8:5-8, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is at enmity toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.” In the flesh, none of us are able to think the way God created our minds to think. They will only ever come to the wrong conclusions. At it’s best, an unregenerate mind can only ever do the right things in the right ways for the wrong reasons, and—therefore—not with God’s power. Isaiah says that our absolute best is like filthy rags. It’s all self-worship unless our minds are set on the Spirit. And that can only happen through the new birth in Jesus Christ. But even though we’re born again, we’re not automatically going to just start thinking the right way. We’re not going to miraculously start using our brains the way God created them to be used. That’s why God commands us to be careful how we think and teaches us how to do it. Therefore . . . 4. Teach your kids that God expects them to guard their minds. Proverbs 4:23 warns us, “Guard your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” This command tells us a number of things. A. Our thinking is precious. Only precious things need to be guarded. And it’s precious because the very springs of life flow from it. B. Guarding is an intentional process. Listen, I could talk for hours about the fact that too many Christians don’t really understand what it is to be intentional. We’re going to talk about this more today, but, man, you can’t unconsciously or subconsciously guard something. You have to be awake, alert, hyper-focused, and purposeful. Our thoughts need to be guarded by our thoughts. That is a counter-intuitive, impossible-without-God’s-help, yet infinitely important reality. Everything we’re going to talk about today requires intentionality. We will never do any of this accidentally or without careful thought, premeditation, and implementation. But what should our thinking look like? 5. Teach your kids that their minds were created to think God’s thoughts. Philippians 2:5 commands us to, “Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” The rest of the passage goes on to explain the humility and meekness of Jesus Who sacrificed Himself to the will of the Father for the good of His children. Romans 12:2-3 commands, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to each one among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound thinking, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Our consciousless wafting on every wave of doctrine needs to be mortified and transformed by the power of God so that our thoughts align with God’s will. It’s not about us. We’re not to think too highly of ourselves, instead, we’re to be humble like Jesus is and root every thought in faith to God. Psalm 19:14 proclaims, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Yahweh, my rock and my Redeemer.” God is the standard by which all of our thoughts will be judged. Our minds are working correctly when they’re in line with meditations that please the Lord. And this is going to require that we be alert, awake, paying attention, and intentional. We’re never going to inadvertently and accidentally think God’s thoughts. Since it’s not going to come naturally, it’s going to be an uphill battle—empowered by the Holy Spirit—to stop thinking in the old man ways and start thinking like Jesus. This is why you must . . . 6. Teach your kids that guarding the mind also requires attacking errant thoughts. It’s not just about protecting your mind from the outside; we actually need to dismantle the old ways of thinking that are inspired by the flesh. II Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the tearing down of strongholds, 5 as we tear down speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” The strongholds of our minds are the thoughts and speculations and all the arrogant ideas we have that contradict the knowledge of God. Those thoughts need to be destroyed, torn down, and taken captive. Again, I hope you see the necessity of intention. You have to have a plan to go to war. You have to be paying attention to tear down strongholds. You have to consciously judge your own thoughts in order to know if they’re fleshly or from the Spirit. But how can we know if the thoughts are fleshly or spiritual? 7. Teach your kids that they will only be able to think God’s thoughts as they submit to His revealed Word. The last verse we considered said that we needed to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” So, what does it look like to think obediently? Well, the Bible is filled with examples and commands and principles from beginning to end. It’s our responsibility to open His Word. Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” We need to read, study, memorize, and meditate on the Bible. It needs to be more than a mindless academic exercise. It needs to be the longing relationship of people who actually care for one another. We need to consciously strive to know God better so we can love Him better. Then when we encounter passages like Philippians 4:8, we’ll actually want to obey it. The passage reads, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider these things.” We could make a whole series all about what it means to think on these things. Maybe we will one day. We can know that if we are not intentionally thinking in these ways for the honor and glory and pleasure of God, we’re not thinking the way God created us to think. I love Ephesians 4:22-32 because it teaches us the important principe of putting off the old way of living, renewing our minds, and then putting on the new way of living. It perfectly illustrates what it looks like to destroy the old fleshly strongholds and have the same mind which was in Christ Jesus. Pay close attention to the intentional choices that are being made. “Lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. 26 Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity. 28 He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. 29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for building up what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you.” Do you see how this alert, attentive, awake mindset that is consciously focused on knowing and understanding God’s Word will result in wise application that will change how we think and live? Listen, there is so much more than I want to say and that I could say. The Scriptures are replete with these commands and admonitions. But this episode is intended mostly to do two things: 1. Show us that our kids most likely do not know how to think in a way that pleases the Lord. Even if we’re giving ourselves a lot of credit by assuming we’ve taught them all of these points, they—like us—don’t do it perfectly. And 2. Give us 8 truths we need to teach our kids so they can think the way God created them to think. “Eight, you say? I thought you only mentioned seven?” You’re right, I did. I’m saving the best for last. But before I get there, please recognize that this is not a one and done. The process of learning how to think, submitting our thoughts to God, and teaching our kids to do the same is a lifelong process. It’s starts in parenting, and—Lord willing—it continues into discipleship. We have to be purposeful. We need to be premeditated and intentional if we’re going to be disciple-making parents. We have to think right ourselves if we’re going to teach our kids to think right. And when we are thinking right, we have the beautiful promise that all the things of this life will have no sway over us. Fear, depression, and greed will melt in the face of biblical thinking. 8. Teach your kids that God blesses when we think biblically. Isaiah 26:3, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace Because he trusts in You.” There are so many other passages that teach us how to rejoice and be content and be thankful, but each of those requires right thinking. This verse is really great because it shows the relationship between the thinking and the final blessing. Yes, thinking correctly will always result in living correctly. And living correctly will always result in the spiritual blessings of God whereby we will experience peace, joy, contentment, and thanksgiving. And that’s my last point for the day. I guess, we could call this point 9. It’s both an important tool by which we can test whether our kids are thinking the right way, but you might as well also teach them how it works. 9. Teach your kids that they can know they’re thinking God thoughts only if they’re living in a state of biblical peace, joy, contentment, and gratitude. Since God commands that we always have those four characteristics in our lives, and since He promises to provide them all if we think the way we should (and subsequently act the way we should), then if we’re not in a biblical state of joy, peace, contentment, and thanksgiving, something is wrong . . . and our thinking is definitely on the list. We’re not thinking correctly when we’re not rejoicing in God and what He’s accomplishing in the situation. We’re not thinking correctly when we’re anxious, worried, and afraid instead of trusting God’s sovereign control. We’re not thinking correctly when we’re discontent about the people and situations God has brought into our lives. We’re not thinking correctly when we’re not thankful for what God is accomplishing in our lives through the experiences around us. So, whether it’s you using this criteria to test your child’s thinking, or you’re teaching them how to use the criteria to test themselves, it’s important that the perceived joy, peace, contentment, and thanksgiving be biblical. We don’t get to define those things as feelings. They’re not feelings. We don’t get to say we’re experiencing those things when we’re disobeying the Bible. Our thinking must be godly, and so it must be biblical. Conclusion
Do your kids know what it is to think? Probably not. And if they do, there’s still a lot of work to do, just like there’s still a lot of work for you and me to think correctly.
So, regardless of how old they are, start teaching them these nine biblical truths about what it is to think the way God created us to think. And be sure to check out the resources that are linked for you in the description of this episode, including how to get the Doctrine of Emotion for only $10. And—as always—please share this episode on your favorite social media outlets so other Christian parents can learn how to teach their kids to think. If you need help learning how to think in a more godly way, or you would like some assistance teaching your kids to think in more godly ways, please write us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail at (828) 423-0894. On our next episode we’re going to continue this discussion about thinking by considering the current cultural phenomenon that is anti-intellectualism and how it’s affecting your child.
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