Philippians is one of my favorite letters in the New Testament, mainly because of the large amount of practical advice contained in these few short chapters.
As Paul continues to list his instructions for our thought life, he adds a word that, at first glance, doesn’t seem to fit.
He adds the word “lovely.”
Lovely. This word brings to mind things associated with my wife, and with my daughters. It’s not exactly along the same lines as the rest of this list.
Or is it?
Interestingly, as I took a deeper look at this word, I found that it is used no where else in the New Testament. In fact, this word isn’t used as a virtue in any ancient text.
So just what does Paul mean by this word?
First of all, lovely refers to that which is lovable by its very nature. If something is able to be loved, then it is lovely.
Another way of putting it is something lovely is attractive, delightful for beauty, harmony or grace.
It also carries the connotation of “agreeable.”
So just what does this mean for us, as we strive to dwell on things that are lovely?
God excites love. And his goal is to bring that love more fully into our lives. As we think on things that are lovely, as we think on the concept of love, we are suddenly reminded of the fact that God himself is love. Thinking on lovely things is to think of God himself.
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
As we think on things that are lovely, let’s directs our thoughts directly to God himself.
What could be better on our mind than that?
How often do your thoughts turn towards God each day? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
The longer I am in ministry, the more I find my thoughts turning toward God. I am desperate for Him to minister through me…to give me His thoughts and ideas for ministry and His words to write.
I love your graphics for this series. Do you make them yourself? If so, do you use a specific program? I’m just beginning to do some graphics and would love some insight into what programs are good and where others acquire their pictures and backgrounds.
I both make my own and purchase them through iStock. Several images on my blog are my own shots. In this case, I purchased an image that was a blank plat on a rusted metal background. I then use Photoshop to create the text and other pieces of the image, fitting it to my needs. There are several sources I like to use, but this one has some great backgrounds: Mayang.com. Hope this helps!
Thanks, Jeff. I’ll check out mayang.com. Haven’t heard of that one. I’ve used PicMonkey for the few I’ve done but I’m always looking to expand my options.
Awesome! It’s good for backgrounds and textures, but there are other places for some good pics as well.