Philippians 4:4-9
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Paul is saying that the peace of God, which is found in the person of Jesus and goes beyond all understanding, and will guard you, and protect your heart and mind.
Your character characterizes you. People know you by your character. Yes of course they may see your physical features, but once they spend a little time with you, they learn to know you, your character.
We can look to Jesus as our standard for honor and character. He showed us how to act and be to show the honor of heaven and proved it is possible to live upon this earth with such a life. And now that same Jesus, through His Spirit, lives in you! It is imperative that our minds stay focused on Him. The boundary for our minds is not just what is true but what is honorable, respectable, reverent, and dignified.
It’s so very easy to dwell on the negative when life is hard, disappointing, or painful. That’s why it’s so important to follow what the Bible teaches us. It is to help us through the tough times and appreciate the great moments.
When Satan wants to get to you, he’ll often start with lies and condemnation whispered into your mind until you and you not even realizing Satan was doing that and so we need to start to believe them and then react with despair, sadness, anger, or any other thing that seeks to separate you from the love of God.
This way of filling our minds with truth and all good things is a challenge, as life is not easy. But as we actively practice this, it is the way to reclaim and live out our lives with love, hope, faith, and gratefulness in the full blessings and love of God.