Now Paul goes further and tells us to “hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21b) and “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.” (Philippians 4:8)
Look around, what do you see that is good, noble, true, right, pure, lovely, admirable? There really is a lot of good stuff happening. To watch the news you might forget that with their focus on disasters and failures and tragedy, but in reality there is more good than bad in the world-it’s just not considered newsworthy. It takes a special effort to find and admire the good things happening. What are some things that come to mind?
A beautiful sunrise that sets the sky ablaze…
Sweet puppies or kittens that warm your heart…
A lovely note, text or tweet from someone you haven’t heard from in a long time…
You see or read about someone going out of their way to help another…
What about the days that seem bleak or when things really do go wrong-a scary diagnosis, loss of a job, back-biting colleague or the myriad other problems that come from living in a broken and fallen world? As all the animals insist in the Contented Little Pussy Cat, “there are so many things to trouble a body.” How can you find something lovely, true, noble, good, pure, or admirable in the troubles? I think the answer might be found in looking for God, especially in those times. Paul says we should “hold fast to what is good.” We claim to believe that we have a good and loving God, therefore God IS in even those times that feel bad.
God is in the diagnosis because God walks through the valleys with us, not causing sickness, but offering strength to carry on.
God is opportunity knocking in the job loss, opening new doors when all we see are closed ones.
God is in the conversation with the colleague as a mirror showing that each of us is wounded and needs compassion.
The interesting thing about looking for the good things (reminiscent of Pollyanna-see Jan. 22) is that the more you look for, the more you see. When we intentionally look for God in all times and places and events, we will find God! Paul is correct in advising us to think about the good and noble things and not focus on the negatives and bad things of life. When I look for the good things, my attitude is much better than when I let myself be dragged down by the negative reports and negative attitudes around me.
An interesting discipline is to make a list of 3-7 things each day that are lovely, true, noble, good, pure, admirable. This list of things that make you thankful and joyful reminds you that “God’s in his heaven and all’s right in the world.” It’s something I’m still working on because, for me, anyway, it’s easier to get trapped into the negatives than look for the positives.
It’s not easy, but certainly worth it. I’m challenging myself to find at least 3 things and if possible 7 things each day that are “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable” etc. every day. These are places where God is breaking into day-to-day life. Consider doing that yourself for this week and see what happens. If you need a visual aid, you can click on the picture and paste it into a document to print out. You can make your own from a piece of paper or a small notebook, and photos, inspirational sayings, observations, etc., too.
Next week we’ll conclude these meditations on the passages from Thessalonians and Philippians with Paul’s summary of a life lived in Christ.
