A Godly Frame of Mind

Intro

Mindset. Coaches talk about it. Therapists talk about it. Pastors talk about it. Teachers, you go down the list, anyone who seeks to influence others talks about the importance of mindset. I want to draw a connection in your mind, if you’ll allow me. A mindset is something we set our minds to. We decide that we will do or we will do Y, so we set our minds to it. We think about it, we figure out how we’re going to accomplish it, we bring others along for the ride, and we use our brains to put our hands to the work.

Character flaw here: Once I get my mind set on something, it’s actually pretty tough to get me to stop. Ask my wife. You know we had paint up on the walls in swatches to figure out what color we were going to paint it. Normal thing to do right? Yeah, I know… Except, and this is pretty embarrassing, we had the same paint swatches up on the walls for upward of 9-10 not days, not weeks… months. And we’ve been saying this whole time, “Oh, well, when we have the space in our budget and feel like spending the money, we’ll hire someone to come paint it!”

Well, then we started this Financial Peace course, right? And ol’ Dave Ramsey changed my mind. Instead of paying however many hundreds of dollars to have someone come paint my living room, I set my mind to get this thing painted myself. And sure enough, in 4 days, I had our living room and our master bedroom painted. I remember the day I wanted to paint the living room, I told Katie I wanted to get it done, and she said, “Do you have to do it all day?” And I responded, well, just let me have the living room for the afternoon. Then I said, “Oh, baby, I’m just gonna go ahead and start taping the trim.” That was about 9AM. By 10:30 I had already gotten to painting. And it was done that very day.

A mindset is a powerful thing. Here’s my disclaimer: “If my mind is set on something, I can’t be responsible for the results of my own actions.”

You know, this is the root meaning of what happens after repentance. The word we translate into repentance is metanoia. Meta meaning “after” and noia meaning “thought.” So after this thought, you have a new way of life. A mind set happens when someone decides, “Enough is enough. Let’s make this happen.” And the mindset is no longer passive, it is now active. Now, while this word is not present in this passage, this kind of event precedes the lifestyle Paul describes here.

Think on Godly Things

Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

As we go through this passage, what I want to do is highlight each of these attributes of things on which we are to think about. But first, let’s look at this word: “Whatever.” This is a really encouraging word for us as believers. It informs and guides us on how we are to interact with the outside world. Should we be the kind of people who cordon off to our own spaces and areas and all of that, retreating from the world, and deeper into our own bubble? Christian books, Christian music, Christian whatever and nothing else?

I think it’s a valid question, and I don’t mean to disparage a side of this that may disagree with me, but I will say that according to Paul, here, we need to give some thought as to how we take in an unbelieving world. How do we filter the messaging of the world? How do we view the whole of the world?

It’s important that we pay attention to our thoughts. Jesus said as much:

Matthew 5:22 (ESV)

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 5:27–28 (ESV)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus says that what happens internally is every bit as serious as acting on those internal thoughts. What he’s saying is meant to call us to a higher standard. In other words, don’t even THINK about engaging in sin. It’s soul-rotting to do so.

So what things can we actively engage our brain in?

Philippians 4:8 ESV

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

I think we utilize this verse as our filter. Let’s take a look:

Whatever is True

Whatever is true! You know, all truth is God’s truth, right? Believers ought not be scared of the truth. If something is true, we ought to allow it to be something that shapes our thoughts and worldview. So, if you are considering watching a movie or reading a book, ask yourself… What is true in this that I can celebrate? That can inspire me toward godliness? That can help me change my actions?” This was a lot easier before everything became a political point, by the way. Truth has become something to be leveraged and pontificated on, and twisted to fit a narrative, rather than to define the narrative. Mark Twain once said, “There’s three types of lies: Lies, Dern Lies, and Statistics.”

Whatever is Honorable

Your translation may say “noble.” The sense here is that, “if it’s worthy of respect,” think on it. To give you a picture, we give those who perform valiant acts our respect. We respect veterans, for they gave a portion of their lives for a noble cause, and many of their friends paid the ultimate price for that noble cause. It is a good thing to recognize honorable, noble acts and give those who perform them respect.

Whatever is Just

God is a God of Justice. He will always be on the side of righteousness. When we see righteousness prevail in our world, we should celebrate and honor that. We should think of what just and righteous things can be done in our world. In our jobs, we should always seek to do what is right and follow those who do what is right.

Whatever is Pure

Look for those things which are not only right, but also are also pure in motive. It’s like pulling for the Fightin’ Texas Aggies last night. Nothing but good intentions there.

Whatever is Lovely and Commendable

The word has “Philo” in its root… Brotherly love or even admiration… Essentially, the thought here is things that the whole world would admire. You know, people may have a cross word to say about Christianity, but when disaster relief comes in from churches, people admire the hard work and dedication there.

Or perhaps another thing that would fall in this range is a great building, like the empire state building, or the statue of liberty, the pyramids, et. al. These are great acts of human work that everyone can admire.

Think on things worthy of admiration.

Commendable carries a little more moral significance to it.

Any Excellence / Anything Worthy of Praise

In other words, if it is something that is worth imitating… If you look at it and can say, given your Christian framework, “It is good...” think on things like that. Let’s put our minds to the task of dwelling on good things.

“Godly” Things

Many times we separate sacred and secular. We tend to think of Jesus as only being present at church, and maybe not present in other aspects of our lives… Like our jobs, or at our kids’ basketball games, etc. Find ways to dwell on things that result in the betterment of the people and the world around you. The reason we dwell on these good and godly things is really because our actions depend on our thoughts.

Going back to that “repentance.” A metanoia, a change of mind results in a renewed course of action. This is what v.9 gets at.

Practice Godly Things

Philippians 4:9a (ESV)

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things,

Paul’s example to the Philippians was to be their guide for life. The things he’s told them to dwell on are their playbook. It’s been said:

For some people, the only Bible they will ever read is you.

Especially looking back at their context, the Philippian church would mostly hear the Word of God being spoken to them, and they would then seek to live it out. They practiced it.

When you go to your bible, make sure that you are not ONLY looking for inspiration. Christians, I think we can be guilty of that. In our devotional times, we look for that bit of inspiration or encouragement.

Don’t silence the work of the Holy Spirit in correction. We need encouragement and comfort, but we also often need correction and marching orders. The Bible gives both. When you read or listen, you should not only ask, “God what do you have for me?” you should also ask, “God, what would you have me do? What would you have me change?”

This is moving from a “we’ll see what happens” mindset toward a “Lordwilling, I will” mindset!

Asking these questions and acting on the answers you receive from the Scripture will determine your life’s example. You know… The life you live is an example for those around you.

Parents, your children are watching your example. And they make decisions about their lives based on your example. God forbid any of our children ever grow up just to leave the faith, right? You know, an atheist will tell you their number one reason for not believing in any form of faith is because they’ve rationally thought through it, and have surmised that religion just has to be false. There’s not enough proof or evidence, whatever.

BUT! A recent study came out in PsyPost that said THE top leading indicator of whether someone will grow up to be an atheist is lack of exposure to what the researchers call, “credibility-enhancing displays of faith.” Now what is a “credibility-enhancing display of faith?” That’s the kind of phrase you pay tens of thousands of dollars to get a PhD for, right? Sometimes PhD’s come up with words that no one else understands just so they can tell people what they mean, and everyone else thinks they’re so smart. I used to do the same thing as a kid, I’d make up languages and words and people looked at me like I was an idiot. Somehow, PhD’s figured out how to do it in a way that makes them look smart. They create their own job security.

But a “credibility-enhancing display of faith” is simply someone living out their faith in front of you. So PsyPost spent thousands of dollars to verify what the Scripture has already taught us… Parents, bring up your children in the way they should go and when they are old, they will not depart from it.

This isn’t a magic formula, but it is what we can contribute.

So the big takeaway from this article:

If you’re faking faith, your kids can see right through it. Sunday morning church is only as good as MTWTFS living. That’s why Paul said, “what you have SEEN in me...” Some of us grew up with good examples. Others of us grew up with poor examples.

Set the example you want your children to be.

So again, what things are they to practice? That list that Paul told them to dwell on. That’s their marching orders. Dwell on these things, so that you may practice them.

You want to be a person of the truth? One who can always share the truth of Christ in a loving way? Set your mind to it. Dwell on that. You want to feed the hungry, clothe the cold, and otherwise love on others? Set your mind to it. Dwell on that. Dwell on the good things and set your mind to them. We can be so lackadaisical in our spirituality sometimes, can’t we? Ok, speak for yourself, Hackler, I get it. I think we often fail to put our minds to being close to God. We have this “we’ll see what happens” mindset, and forego the “Lordwilling, I will” mindset.

So much of doing things with success has to do with mental preparation. Texas A&M doesn’t beat Alabama with a “we’ll see what happens” mindset.

God Will Be With You

Philippians 4:9b (ESV)

and the God of peace will be with you.

And finally, we come to the promise. This calls back to the text we looked at last week, and the essence of it is this… If you want God’s presence in your life… dwell not on the things that are contrary to Him. Dwell on those things that draw you closer to Him. I know, personally, that when I find myself consuming media or scrolling twitter or things that draw my attention OFF of God, I sacrifice my closeness with the Lord.

Now, again, these verses we’ve looked at are speaking about taking that which is good and pleasurable and true that’s in the culture and affirming them, and that can be done to the glory of God! You can enjoy football to the glory of God. You can enjoy a movie to the glory of God. But there comes a time when we deliver our affections for God over to those things and raise them up as idols. I can’t tell you where that line is. But you know when you’ve crossed it.

I think some of us have a heart’s desire for the peace of God, but we nurse that desire with false gods. We nurse that desire with alcohol. We nurse that desire by getting wrapped up in our hobbies. We nurse that desire with our jobs. Men are REALLY bad at this. You know, when a man starts losing control of his life, you know what the first thing he does is? He goes and tries to find something he can control. Gives him a sense of purpose. Ignores the need for the peace of God that’s gnawing at his soul. Step 1. Admit that you are only in control so much as the Lord allows you to be. Step 2. Seek God.

Reminder, this is salvation, right? We lived our way our entire lives, we’ve controlled everything in our lives up to that point, and then when we surrender to Christ, repent and turn to Him, we give Him our lives. There’s a reason we say, “Jesus is Lord.”