Whatever..

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. (Philippians 4:8 NIV).

True - Genuine, real, ideal, manifest, unconcealed, actual.

Jesus said: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life..". I believe that Jesus is the Truth.   
Jesus was for real. He was the real deal. He hated the hypocrisy of the religoius leaders of that day. They said one thing and did something completely opposite. He said to them: "You are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside  you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:27,28).

Noble -  Behavior that is dignified, honorable, honest, decent, worthy of respect, reverend.

 I think that our behavior begins in our minds. What we think about we will do. That's why we need to think about honesty and decency.

Right -  Just, righteous.

Do you want to be treated with justice? Should people do right by you?
Of course! Then that is how we must think. Think about others with benevolence. "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you." 

Pure - Clean, modest, undefiled, morally faultless, without blemish.

It's never too late to turn away from being immodest and unclean. As long as we have breath we can have hope of God's forgiveness. Remember "the prodigal son"? He wasted his inheritance in unclean living before he came to his senses. But his father welcomed him back with open arms and restored everything back to him. It was as if he had never gone away. Start thinking pure thoughts!

Lovely - Lovable, friendly, acceptable.

 "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as he Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:12,13.)

Admirable - Good report, speech that is gracious and fair-sounding.

Don't we love to be around people whose speech is gracious? And oh, how we hate hearing complaints and grumbling! And so does God. When the israelites grumbled and complained in the wilderness God sent poisonous snakes, fire, and pestilance among them. Let's not be like them!

Excellence - Virtue, intrinsic value, moral excellency, goodness.

Goodness. That's what I think this is. It means beneficiance, kindness in actual manifestation, virtue equipped for action. It is a word that combines being good and doing good.

Praiseworthy - Approval, commendation, praise.

What - or who- is praiseworthy? Only Jesus! To Him be glory and honor and praise for who He is, for what He has done, and for all that has given to us freely!

To paraphrase Philippians 4:8, it might sound this way:

Whatever is truthful, whatever is honorable, whatever is righteous, whatever is undefiled, whatever is acceptable, whatever is fair-sounding - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, fill your minds with these things.  

In other words: "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1, 2). For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10).

That's something to think about!