Listen

From now on, brothers and sisters, if anything is excellent and if anything is admirable, focus your thoughts on these things: all that is true, all that is holy, all that is just, all that is pure, all that is lovely, and all that is worthy of praise. Practice these things: whatever you learned, received, heard, or saw in us. The God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

Think

Another difficult challenge for Christians from Paul—focus on these things that seem to be growing scarcer by the day in our world: truth, holiness, justice, purity, love, and praiseworthy things (goodness). As Christians, we need to “reset” our brains to think differently than we’re programmed to by our peer groups, social media, and as we see modeled by the powers and leadership of the world all around us.

The world celebrates lies and gossip—we ask, “Is this true?”

The world celebrates evil and corruption—we ask, “Is this holy?”

The world celebrates oppression, unfairness, inequality, and exclusion—we ask, “Is this justice?”

The world celebrates destruction and immorality—we ask, “Is this pure?”

The world celebrates hate and division—we ask, “Is this lovely?”

The world celebrates negativity—we ask, “Does this celebrate the good in the world?”

There are so many things to think about in the world, so many things to fill our minds with, but be different! Think on THESE things.

Chuck Powell

Question to Ponder:

What things occupy your thoughts?

Pray

God of truth, holiness, justice, purity, love, and goodness, help me to set my mind on the right things today and all days. Amen.

Go

Go, always remembering what our faithful God has done.