THOSE MENTAL PICTURES

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely; whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

A state of emotion always comes between the knowledge and the act. A feeling of pity would never arise in the human breast unless aroused by a mental picture of others' distress, and without the emotional bump to set off the will there would be no act of mercy. That is the way we are constituted. Whether the emotion aroused by a mental picture be pity, love, fear, desire, grief, there can be no act of the will without it.

What I am saying here is nothing new. Every mother, every statesman, every leader of men, every preacher of the Word of God knows that a mental picture must be presented to the listener before he can be moved to act, even though it be for his own advantage. God intended that the truth should move us to moral action. The mind receives ideas, mental pictures of things as they are. These excite the feelings and these in turn move the will to act in accordance with the truth.

That is the way it should be, and would be had not sin entered and wrought injury to our inner life. Because of sin the simple sequence of truth-feeling-action may break down in any of its three parts. The mind which is created to receive truth is often turned over to falsehood, and the feeling thus aroused may incite the will to evil action. The contemplation of any wrong or forbidden thing cannot but inflame the feelings to sympathy with evil. A regrettable example of this was David's long gaze at the beautiful Bathsheba in the act of bathing. The king was moved by what he saw and acted accordingly, and the bitter and tragic consequences dogged him to the end of this days. He saw, he felt, he acted, precisely as his Lord did centuries later when He healed the sick.

The difference in the moral quality of the acts of the two men resulted from the difference in their feelings.

David saw a beautiful woman; Christ saw a suffering multitude. One gaze led to sin, the other to an act of mercy; but both followed the simple law of their inner structure.

Thought

A common misperception is that we can think about sinful acts and enjoy them emotionally yet never actually commit them. However, a weakening of the will results which eventually leads to sinful actions.

Prayer

Lord, may I use the freedom You have given me to think on that which is excellent and praiseworthy. Truth, then, will move me to moral, not immoral, action.

https://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=520