The Scriptures report in Genesis 6:5 that God observed human life, their way of living, and their relationships with others:

“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually“ (Genesis 6:5).

The word “imagination” is what I would like you to notice here. Some versions translate it as “inclination.” In other words, “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was continually evil.” This means that human thinking and imagination were constantly inclined toward evil; wickedness was perpetually in their hearts.

So, the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—people and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I have made them“ (Genesis 6:7).

God held humanity accountable for their thoughts; otherwise, He wouldn’t have pronounced this judgment against them. Some people say, “You know, these negative thoughts just come to me, and I don’t know how they happen.” Well, God holds you responsible for managing such thoughts.

Remember, we defined “thoughts” as the creation, recollection, revision, and processing of images to give them meaning, reasoning, language, and expression. Creating, recalling, revising, and processing are up to you. It’s entirely your responsibility to process or reject the images you receive. If you don’t process them to derive meaning, they won’t provide any on their own. You must give them meaning, just as those disciples in Luke 24:37 assigned meaning to ghosts (remember the story in Chapter 2).

They had never seen anyone attacked or destroyed by a ghost, but they had heard stories, and the fear of ghosts had embedded itself in their minds. So, when they saw Jesus—the One who heals the brokenhearted, the goodness of God, the expression of God’s love—they were terrified because they thought He was a ghost.

Imagine for a moment if Jesus had said nothing to calm their fear. Think about what might have happened if Jesus had looked at them with a stern expression. Perhaps they would have fainted or even died from fear; the news would have spread that a ghost killed them, when in reality, they died of fright.

Thus, with our minds, we assign meaning, interpretation, and reasoning to the images we receive and process. You can give reason to everything you create in your mind and also assign it a language for expression.

This text is an excerpt from the book  “THE POWER OF YOUR MIND” written by Chris OYAKHILOME.

We invite you to read the following article: “Think Spiritually, Not Carnally.”