Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of
praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have
learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be
with you. Philippians 4:8-9
My son, when he is near certain people, for a length of
time, begins to pick of the accent of the person, to whom he is speaking. If he
is with Southerners, suddenly he is speaking with a southern accent. If he is
with Midwesterners, he begins to have that accent. My eyes open with wonder,
when he does this, and he is totally oblivious of his accent changing.
It is easy to begin to emulate whatever is filling our minds.
It’s easy to pick up foul words, when we are constantly surrounded by that. It’s
easy to act judgmental when the newscasters we watch daily are judgmental. It’s
easy to gripe and complain when we are surrounded by these attitudes. It’s easy
to start gossiping when we are surrounded by gossip. It’s easy to seek revenge, just like in the
movies, or books we read. We pick up these actions, and sometimes are totally
unaware of what we are doing.
When we are in Christ, we are a new creation. We, on our
daily Christian walk, are adjusting our attitudes and actions to imitate our
Heavenly Father, though Jesus Christ. It’s a daily battle of ridding ourselves
of selfish desires, to filling ourselves with the love of Christ. Jesus came as
the Prince of Peace, and we likewise, are to be an example of Him. When we look
at these scriptures in Philippians, we see a focus shift that should become a
dominant factor as we work on our salvation. Salvation is a gift, free and
clear, but walking in that salvation takes work on our part.
Our growth is helped along, by what we fill our minds with,
daily. If we take into ourselves things that are true, honorable, just, pure,
pleasing, excellent, and praise worthy, we will be more likely to emit the
fruits of the spirit that are mentioned in Galatians 5: 22-23. “The fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.”
What does our fruit look like? Is it nice and ripe, and
pleasing to the eye, or is it a little less than desirable? Sometimes we just
need to reevaluate what we are filling our minds with, and do a little
adjustment. We must remember, what comes in, will certainly come out.
Dear Lord, Thank you for setting an example of good things,
though your Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to fill our minds with things that will
make us more like Him. In Christ I pray. Amen
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