What you put into your body matters. Anyone who’s ever dealt with back pain or low energy knows this — we obsess over the right fuel for our physical frames. But Pastor Josh White asked a question that cuts deeper: What are you putting into your mind?
Using a memorable object lesson involving bleach, Mountain Dew, and water, Josh walked Grace Bible Church through one of the most practical passages in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The message was simple but urgent: spiritual stability comes from guarding what you allow into your thinking.
The Illustration That Stuck
Josh held up three containers: bleach, Mountain Dew, and water. The point was obvious but powerful.
Bleach is pure poison — and that’s exactly why nobody drinks it. Even an unbeliever recognizes pure evil and recoils from it.
Mountain Dew is sneakier. Its main ingredient is water — the very thing your body needs. But loaded with 46 grams of sugar, one can isn’t devastating, but six cans a day for a year will wreck your health. The danger is that it tastes good while slowly corrupting you from the inside out.
Water is pure, clean, and exactly what your body was designed to run on.
The Spiritual Application
Josh applied this directly to what we allow into our minds. He pointed to 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off into myths.”
— 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Paul’s warning is clear: the biggest threat to believers isn’t obvious falsehood — it’s truth mixed with something else. A little bit of the world mixed into your thinking, a song with suggestive lyrics, a show that normalizes compromise — on their own, none seem catastrophic. But consumed over time, they distort your soul.
“All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
— Mark 7:20-23
Jesus is saying it starts with what enters in. The thoughts we dwell on, the content we consume, the voices we let shape our worldview — they all take root and eventually bear fruit.
What Should We Think About?
Philippians 4:8 gives us a filter:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
— Philippians 4:8
Eight qualities — all of them flow from truth. Josh zeroed in on the Greek word for “think” — logizomai — which means to evaluate, to calculate, to seriously consider something. It’s not passive; it’s active analysis. Like inspecting a house before you buy it. Like thinking several moves ahead in chess.
Paul isn’t just telling us what not to think about. He’s telling us what to fill our minds with — so full that there’s no room left for the noise.
Jesus Came to Bear Witness to the Truth
Josh shared a convicting exchange from John 18. Pilate asks Jesus if He’s a king, and Jesus responds:
“You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.”
— John 18:37
Truth isn’t just a concept — it’s a Person. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). And He came to reveal it, live it, and testify to it. If we drift from truth, we drift from Jesus Himself.
The Challenge: Start With Truth
Josh closed with a practical challenge: for the next seven days, be intentional about what enters your mind first thing each morning.
- Before you check your phone, read a chapter of Scripture
- Use a “verse of the day” app
- Start with Philippians — four chapters, read twice before next Sunday
Just like switching from six Mountain Dews a day to water won’t transform your body overnight, one day of Bible reading won’t overhaul your thinking. But over time, what you consistently consume shapes who you become.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”
— Romans 12:2
Scripture References
- 2 Timothy 4:3-4 — The danger of itching ears and man-made myths
- Mark 7:20-23 — What comes out of us begins with what went in
- Philippians 4:8 — Paul’s eight-fold filter for our thoughts
- John 18:37 — Jesus came to bear witness to the truth
- Romans 12:2 — Be transformed by the renewal of your mind
- John 14:6 — Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life