"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 (NIV)

In Shakespeare's masterpiece, Hamlet, the young prince likens his mother, Queen Gertrude, to fertilizer after she marries Claudius. Hamlet exclaims, "Confess yourself to heaven / Repent what's past. Avoid what is to come. / And do not spread the compost on the weeds / To make them ranker."

Hamlet is accusing his mother of supporting his uncle (now stepfather) Claudius' immoral behavior. The prince believes that Denmark is a garden where weeds must be removed, not encouraged. As he puts it, "'tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed, things rank and gross in nature possess it merely."

Where are you with God today? Have you allowed spiritual weeds to grow in the garden of your soul? Are they choking out the healthy plants that were growing there when you first believed the gospel?

As Christians, our thought life plays a pivotal role in our spiritual development. Indeed, it's not too much of an exaggeration to say that our faith is strengthened or lost in the dark recesses of our mind. That's why Paul says it's so important to have a healthy thought life. Garbage in, garbage out.

Because we follow the Lord Jesus, Truth incarnate, we have the joy of discovering God's calling cards of truth in our world. And we can rejoice in the opportunities we have every day to think about the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. If we think of the good, we won't allow evil to gain a foothold in our lives.

— Matt Donnelly, for the ChristianityToday.com staff

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