Good Stuff to Put In

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.

Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit in Gal.5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are the things that flow out of a Spirit-controlled person. Here in Phil.4:8 he lists the things that flow into a Spirit-controlled person. There is a close relationship between what flows in and what flows out.

This command doesn’t actually say anything directly about the bad stuff. There is plenty of good stuff to put into our minds.

The Bible is not just a book of don’ts. There is a full and glorious life that God wants us to enjoy, a life of purity and wholesomeness, of innocence and joy.

Christianity doesn’t just say no to the world. It gives us a wonderful, enriching alternative. Actually, the world is just a counterfeit. God is the reality. He is the One we were made for. And we were made to be satisfied in Him.

Savior, if of Zion’s city I, through grace, a member am,
Let the world deride or pity, I will glory in Thy name:
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion’s children know.
(John Newton, who knew all about the worldling’s pleasure, 1779)

Following Christ is not a matter of merely avoiding things that are sinful. It is living in the joy of what is good. It is finding one’s delight not in what is fun and spectacular and thrilling, but rather in what is virtuous and wholesome and positive and edifying. Choosing the good isn’t the final goal, loving and enjoying the good is what the Spirit moves us to do.

Holy Spirit, You are the One who has the power to change the hearts of men. Please change me. Create in me a clean heart. Fill me with a love of what is good and godly. Take away my fascination with what is unwholesome. Help me to pity the wicked instead of envying them. May the things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise be the things that I get really excited about. Burn away my impurities and fill my heart with holy affections.