Think About What's True

THINK ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT

" Finally, brethren ... whatever is right ... think on these things ..." Philippians 4:8

We have been unpacking this profound prescription given by the Apostle Paul on the things that we should dwell or think on. I have been working at memorizing this verse because I know full well that if I allow my mind to dwell on the wrong things - it can spell disaster.

Paul says that we are to think about things that are right. The word is derived from the word "just" and if you follow the root, it reminds us that we are justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. But the word goes deeper than that. It means "guided by truth and justice" and relates to "standards and requirements."

I go back to my thought earlier this week. In order to understand how we should be thinking biblically, we need to immerse ourselves in the study of God's Word. If I am going to think RIGHT thoughts, then I need to understand how God expects me to live. Proverbs addresses every area of life, from money, to the discipline of my kids, to how interact with people in relation to how I speak.

One of the things that we taught our kids was to be honest in every area of life. On several occasions when we were shopping, we were either not charged for an item or given the wrong change. I can remember several instances where we were given the wrong amount of change, and one time it was significant. We were already in the car, and Jan realized that there was an error. We drove back to the store and the clerk was absolutely baffled by our honesty and didn't know how to "fix" the transaction. We knew her cash drawer would be short ... It was the RIGHT thing to do.

It has been cool to hear our kids tell us their stories of similar situations and how neat it was for them to do the RIGHT thing. If our minds are not thinking RIGHT, we could begin to justify and say, "Well, thank You, Lord, for Your provision! After all, I have been praying for You to meet my needs!" WRONG! Or the self-righteous person might think, "When will these stores hire competent people ... oh well ... there loss!"

God's Word and RIGHT -living go hand in hand. If you want to dwell on RIGHT thinking - take some time to search how HE wants you to live.

Great quote: Our God is often too small because he is too religious. We imagine that he is chiefly interested in religion - in religious buildings (churches and chapels), religious activities (worship and ritual), and religious books (Bibles and prayer books). Of course he is concerned about these things, but only if they are related to the whole of life. According to the Old Testament prophets and the teaching of Jesus, God is very critical of 'religion," if by that is meant religious services divorced from real life, loving service and the moral obedience of the heart. John R. W. Stott