“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8, 9 (NLT)
Paul gets down to the nitty-gritty about what goes on in our minds. He leaves no doubt as to what we should think about and actually gives us a list.
What is true,
honorable,
right,
pure,
lovely,
admirable,
excellent,
worthy of praise.
Everything on this list qualifies as a positive thought. This type of thinking will not leave us worried, sad or depressed.
Paul says to “fix your thoughts” on these things.
Does your mind need some fixing? If we fix our mind on these things, then these things will fix our mind. Ha! Though this is true, I’m having some fun with the word fix.
What exactly does fix mean in this verse? The Amplified Bible uses the word meditate. The Complete Jewish Bible uses the word focus. The King James Version simply uses the word think.
Many uninvited thoughts pop into our minds, but we choose if they are welcome to stay.
Paul tells us we will have God’s peace if we follow these instructions, so whenever we lack peace, evaluating our thoughts is a good place to start.
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