I've been thinking a little more about that meeting at the weekend on strengthening our faith, in an effect to become more like Jesus (I blogged about this a few days ago).
Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
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.
There's the word 'excellent' again! It's clear that we should be thinking of 'excellent' things (virtuous, praiseworthy). Because if your mind is full of negatives (criticism of others, your own weaknesses) or wrong thoughts (greed, worry, lust) that's what your life will be filled with... whereas if we want to achieve excellence, we need to think of higher things, better things - excellent things.
One further observation: the word 'think' at the end of the verse implies deep contemplation. Some translations show this as 'meditate'. I like the word 'ponder'. Whatever. Let your mind dwell on it. Get your mindset right!
I came across this quote on the web by D. Martyn Lloyd–Jones on Matthew 6:25-34, where he comments on the subject of faith and thinking:
"Faith, according to our Lord’s teaching in this paragraph, is primarily thinking; and the whole trouble with a man of little faith is that he does not think. He allows circumstances to bludgeon him. That is the real difficulty in life. Life comes to us with a club in its hand and strikes us upon the head, and we become incapable of thought, helpless and defeated. The way to avoid that, according to our Lord, is to think."
No comments:
Post a Comment