Philippians 4:8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
We need to think on:
• Whatever is true—focus only on what you know is true. Don’t focus on the ‘what-ifs’ because the what-ifs are a figment of our imaginations—it’s not grounded in truth. God is truth and His Word is truth, so we must focus on the truth of His Word. We must never focus on the negative comments or the opinions of others regarding who we are. Instead, we are to think on what the Word of God says we are and what it has to say about God—His character, who He is.
• Whatever is honorable and worthy of respect—focus on what is honorable, that is, what deserves our respect. God is who we honor ultimately. We also need to honor and respect others—behaving in a respectful way towards others. If it brings dishonor or disrespect to God or to others, we should not dwell on it. It only belittles another and their created value.
• Whatever is right and confirmed by God’s Word—focus on what is right, that which is aligned to God’s Word. A lot of what we see and hear in the world is not right in God’s eyes. It seems that much of what the world accepts as right these days, goes against God’s Word. Don’t dwell on the world’s ideas and its way of thinking, think on things that are right and true according to God’s Word.
