Hey Friend,
We've been spending this month in Philippians 4:8 together, and I hope by now you're starting to feel the weight of this verse in the best way, not as a burden, but as a gift.
Paul isn't giving you a to-do list. He's handing you a key.
We've walked through what is true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely. This week we finish the verse:
"...whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things." Philippians 4:8 AMP
Whatever is admirable and of good repute…
The word admirable here carries the idea of something that is well-spoken of, something that, if held up to the light, reflects well. Paul is calling us to think on things that, if the people who love us most could see our thought life, they would be at peace.
That's a sobering invitation.
I'll be honest, there were seasons in my life when my thought life was not a place I'd want anyone to visit. It was full of grudges I was rehearsing, comparisons I was making, and fears I was feeding. None of it was admirable. None of it was bringing me closer to God.
But God is patient. And He keeps pointing us back to the good.
If there is any excellence…
The word for excellence in the Greek is aretē. It was a classical virtue, the idea of something being the very best version of what it was created to be.
When Paul says to think on excellence, he's calling you upward. He's saying: Don't let your mind settle at the floor. Look for what is excellent. Search for it in your day. In people around you. In the Word. In the character of God.
Excellence isn't perfectionism. It's not striving or performing. It's leaning into the highest, truest, most beautiful version of what God has created and called.
If there is anything worthy of praise…
And here is where it all comes together.
A mind anchored in praise is a protected mind. Not because praise makes hard things disappear, but because praise recalibrates your focus. It reminds you of who is actually in charge. It resets the narrative.
Paul knew this firsthand. He wrote this letter from prison actual chains, actual walls, and yet he writes about joy and peace and right thinking. That's not a theology of denial. That's a theology of praise.
He found something worthy of praise in every season because he knew Who was worthy.
This week, I want to encourage you to start and end your day with praise. Not a performance of praise, but an honest acknowledgment of what God has done, is doing, and has promised.
When anxiety comes, and it will come, let praise be the first thing you reach for instead of the spiral.
You are not at the mercy of your thoughts. You have been given a different way.
Next week, we're going to bring the whole verse together and talk about what it actually looks like to think continually on these things; practically, daily, in real life.
Tiesha A. Andrews
With love and anticipation for all that God has in store for you!!
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Where Peace Lives Devotional Study Guide
Peace isn't something you have to chase down, earn, or finally be spiritually ready for. It already has your name on it.... Read more |
