Philippians 4:8 – ‘…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.’
Ever since Adam and Eve decided to partake in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mankind has had to cope with feelings of insufficiency and vulnerability. Upon partaking of this forbidden tree, Adam and Eve immediately sought to cover themselves and hide from God. They had become self-conscious and paranoid.
One of the continual temptations that has resulted from the fall is a propensity to detract worth from others to ascribe worth to ourselves. Instead of getting our identity, our value, our worth from God alone, we make self-serving judgments of others.
Are you dwelling on what Jesus Christ says is true of you and others? Do you know that you are the apple of His eye? Do you dwell on the fact that you and every person you see, are worth Christ dying and giving up heaven for? Are you dwelling on honorable things like a person’s character versus judging their speech, dress, and outward differences? Do you tend to dwell more on the good or do you tend to dwell more on the negative?
If we are not careful, we will fall into the trap of feeding off others’ insufficiencies to cover our own feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability.
Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing to us how sacred life is. Help us to guard our hearts and minds by dwelling on that which you say is true, good, lovely, and honorable. May this be true of our self-assessment along with our assessment of others, in Jesus’ name, Amen.