Sunday Devotional: Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. [NASB]

This is the last in our series of devotions from Philippians. That’s not to say I won’t dip into Philippians for future devotionals, just that we’ll be going elsewhere in Scripture next week.

This verse is part of Paul’s parting exhortation to the Philippian church. I could spend a long time taking this verse apart, looking at the Greek terms behind each of these elements (“true,” “honorable,” “right,” etc.), but for the purposes of this devotional, I want to look at what Paul is saying generally here.

There are those that might want to use this verse to say we should sequester ourselves off from the world and avoid anything that might soil our minds. This would include things we really should avoid (pornography, for example), but they would also draw into that anything “worldly”–television, movies, literature, anything that is not coming from a Christian viewpoint and with Christian morality. We would also have to avoid the news, since much of it is full of scandals, murders, and other unpleasant things. If we are to focus our minds on the true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely, then anything that would draw our minds–even for one moment–on the false, dishonorable, wrong, ugly, and reprehensible must be banished. Right?

I don’t think Paul intends anything so radical. He recognized that we rub shoulders with ungodly people every day (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). We can’t avoid the world, or the effects of sin on the world around us. However, we can choose what we allow our minds to dwell upon.

By the grace of God, not everything in this world is evil through and through. Non-Christians can be loyal, brave, well-mannered, encouraging, loving, and virtuous. This is because, despite their rebellion against God, they are created in the image of God, and though it is logically irrational to behave this way given their worldview, they know it’s right (though they can’t explain how they know). We can be blessed by non-Christians; we can learn from them; and we can even share in common interests and spend enjoyable time with them. Paul’s exhortation would be to dwell on the positive benefits derived from these encounters. Receive the blessings from these things as blessings from God, even though they come through vessels whose hearts are opposed to Him.

And when we encounter the negative, we weep with those who weep; we are horrified at atrocities; we are disgusted at the immoral. But we put these things behind us. We dwell on the goodness of God despite the sin around us. We marvel at the way He can leave His fingerprints in this fallen world. We let our minds dwell on the good, and not be drawn into those things that would consume us, depress us, and perhaps even tempt us away.

I pray we would all remember this as we go about our daily activities in the world this week.