Finally, brothers and sisters, 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 (NIV)
“A penny for your thoughts” is said when you want to know what another person is thinking, usually because they have been quiet for a while. The earliest record of the expression in print is by Sir Thomas More in his book Four Last Things, published in 1522. The expression became so well used that it was often shortened to “a penny for them” or even just “penny”. Some people wonder if it might be insulting, since a penny is worth next to nothing today, and might produce the sharp response, “Is that all you think my thoughts are worth?” That certainly wasn’t the idea behind it, since a penny was worth a sizeable sum when the phrase was first written down.
Your thoughts are valuable to God. The Scripture reminds us that as we think, so we are. The mind and our thoughts are a major topic in Scripture. God actually tells us what to think about in today’s verse.
The verse gives us eight questions to ask about our thought life.
Is it true? Truth is the first test.
Is it noble? The word refers to that which is worthy of respect and awe-inspiring.
Is it right? This means in conformity to God’s standards.
Is it pure? The word means ‘free from defilement, stainless, that which will not contaminated, clean, holy’.
Is it lovely? This word is used only here in the New Testament. It literally means ‘love towards’ and thus gracious.
Is it admirable? That is, is it laudable and worthy of contemplation, or is it negative and critical?
Is it excellent? Excellent refers to moral goodness and those things that God himself would approve.
Is it praiseworthy? A good way to counter critical thoughts is to dwell on praiseworthy thoughts.
We are even commanded to bring every thought into captivity of Christ:
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (ESV) 2 Corinthians 10:5
Your thoughts are worth much more than a penny. They are determinative of how you will live your life.