Context
Here in Philippians 4, Paul has been discussing our need for
an attitude adjustment—the need for Christlike humility and concern for others
that results in real behavior changes.
We ended by looking at verses 6 and 7 last time which talk about letting
God’s peace replace our tendency to worry about our needs. We saw that this peace is the result of entrusting
those things to God in prayer.
Cultivating a Proper
Thought Life Philippians 4:8
This theme of God’s peace flooding our being as we learn to
trust Him, continues in verse 8. Not
only do we need to replace worry with trusting prayer, but we also need to
cultivate a proper thought life. These
are things we can
control. While other people’s attitudes and
behaviors can land on our doorstep, we can control how we think about them and
the way we deal with them.
There are thoughts we need to shut out or ignore. This isn’t to say we only think “positive”
thoughts and refuse to plan when things go awry. But when difficulties of life arouse anxiety,
we need to focus instead on our godly response and prayer. That’s how we replace anxiety with trust. Other
thoughts that lead to lust, hatred, or covetousness need to be viewed as sinful
thoughts and replaced with godly thoughts.
But whatever thoughts we have must all be under the control of the
Spirit of God.
So, Paul gives us a menu of the kinds of thoughts that need
to be cultivated. Notice that the list
begins with the truth. Let all thoughts
of deception flee far away. Lies are the
refuge of wrongdoers. Sometimes we need
to confront deception, but it begins with a thoughtful defense of the truth—not
by blurting out a vicious retort or responding in kind with more deception.
By the way, some people say Christians should never defend
or “protect” themselves. The Bible never
says that anywhere. However, it may sometimes be the wiser course of action to
ignore some things—especially if your self-defense might be misconstrued as an
attack on someone. We do have a
responsibility to defend our family and others who depend on us and to answer
those who ask for a reason for the hope that lies within us or other required
responsibilities. But, in any case, we
always speak the truth—in love.
The next item on the menu is respect or
praiseworthiness. Is it honorable? How would Christ grade that thought? Not everything that is true needs to be
thought about so Paul wants us to think about how Christ or people you love and
trust would grade that thought. What
would your spouse or your kids think?
Sometimes gruesome or shameful memories may invade your thoughts. These must be replaced with the reminder that
Christ has dealt with all of these things.
Then, is it fair, equitable, just, or right? Are you thinking about the situation fairly or
is your judgment clouded? What if this concerned
someone you love instead of your “enemy?”
In fact, what if someone thought this way about you? We must use the same standard for every
person.
Is this thought pure? The Greek word can even mean “holy” in the
sense of a thought that God would approve of.
Impure thoughts are generally viewed as lust, but the idea here goes
beyond that to thoughts about cheating or revenge for instance. All of these are foreign to the pure mind. Stay far away from foul thoughts.
Are your thoughts friendly or loving toward others? Most translations say “lovely” but the Greek
word means “loving toward.” Is this
beneficial to others or harmful? Is there
good intent?
How would others feel about this line of thinking? Is the activity you are contemplating
commendable?
Then, is it virtuous?
In the Roman world, the philosophers often judged the behavior of others
against the “personal virtues” which included the following: piety (meaning respect for Roman society),
humor (which included courtesy), mercy, dignity (caring for what society thinks
of you), tenacity (perseverance), frugality (not miserly but not wasteful
either), gravity (not irresponsible), respectability, cultured, industriousness
(not lazy), prudence, cleanliness, self-control, and truthfulness. The Scriptures also underscore the value of
such virtues especially in Proverbs.
Notice also that these have some correlation with the fruit of the
Spirit in Galatians 5. In other words, these
thoughts that we are to cultivate are the result of God’s work in our minds!
Paul says, think about THESE things. This is to be our deliberate focus. It doesn’t happen immediately. It is a maturing process. It requires practice. But these kinds of thoughts running through
our minds will do much to adjust our attitudes to be Christlike.
How do thoughts arrive in our minds? They are mental reasonings which respond to
external circumstances as well as to memories and to media such as books,
movies, etc. This is why we must be very
careful of the kind of media we expose ourselves to. Memories are like the groove in a vinyl
record that is difficult to erase. But
new memories can replace old ones in time as we practice controlling our
thoughts.
Cultivating Proper
Actions Philippians 4:9
Now in verse 9, Paul moves from our thoughts to our
actions. He is confident that he would
be a good role model to emulate. What
did you learn from Paul? What did you
receive from him? What did you hear him
say? And finally, what did you see him
do? This is a good way to evaluate any
role model whose behavior we wish to copy.
We never met Paul, but we do have some record of the kind of
person he was; and the Philippians had spent some time with him in some pretty
difficult circumstances and Paul had come out shining. Paul’s attitude had been exemplary. He was more concerned about the message of
the gospel getting to these people than about his personal rights—just like Jesus—as
he mentioned in chapter 2. This is why
we still need godly role models.
Conclusion
Notice the progression.
Right thoughts precede right actions.
And the result once again is God’s peace.
In Greek literature, there is a literary device called an inclusio in which similar wording both
precedes and follows a section like an envelope. We have here an inclusio in verses 7, 8, and 9. Notice that Paul starts by talking about the peace that is a result of replacing
worry with trust in God. Then he moves
to a discussion of adjustment of our thoughts and our actions. Then a final reminder that God’s peace comes to those who follow this
pattern.
Next time we will look at a final example of how this
process worked out for Paul.
© 2019 Eric Thimell
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