Finally, brothers and sisters, 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

A few years back, my husband renovated our 1950s era bathroom. The toilet, sink and walls went from pepto bismol pink to white, and the floor was similarly transformed into a lovely white with small black accents. I was so happy. However, Jason couldn’t stop looking at the small grout line that edged the bathtub. It was just ever so slant, and it made him crazy! I found our “new” bathroom an absolute vision, but he couldn’t see past the one flaw. It spoiled the entirety for him.

Sometimes our lives are like that, full of good and lovely things. Yet, we focus our mind’s eye on the one thing that’s lacking. This bible verse compels us to really dwell on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable things. And if that isn’t enough, we should also linger on ANYTHING excellent or praiseworthy - just for good measure. Really, no good thing is excluded from this list. But, did you notice what is missing? All of the negative. ALL of it. Hmmm… seems intentional to me.

What impure, ignoble, false, or otherwise negative thing do you need to stop dwelling on?

What good thing is God doing (or has done) that you should focus on instead?