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.Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
Lovely is an adjective that describes someone or something that is very beautiful, attractive or pleasing to look at or listen to. It can also mean delightful or highly pleasing, often used to describe a pleasant experience. Lovely also describes a quality that warrants and attracts admiration. It doesn’t always refer to a physical trait, but can also refer to having a moral or spiritual beauty that appeals to the heart or mind.
The apostle Paul exhorts the church in Philippi to think on things that are lovely. He seems to be referring to a thought life that doesn’t always think the worst of people and life in general. Instead he admonishes them to have a thought life that looks beyond a person’s faults and thinks about what is admirable in them; a thought life that is positive in nature when looking on unfortunate situations.
Maybe if it had been created in his day, the apostle Paul would have said to the Philippians, “No Eeyores!” Eeyore is an old grey stuffed donkey that appears in A.A. Milne’s stories about the character Winnie-the-Pooh. Most of us remember him from the Disney cartoon series. Though less sarcastic in the cartoons, Milne characterized Eeyore as being pessimistic and depressed in nature and having a poor opinion of the other animals in the Forest. His pessimistic and depressed nature would not be one that Paul would advocate for neither the thought life nor behavior of a Christian.
Adam Clarke wrote that lovely refers to “whatever is amiable on its own account and on the account of its usefulness to others, whether in your conduct or conversation. Not only should a Christian have lovely thoughts, but their behavior should be lovely also. A Christian should be generally good tempered, not unkind or unfriendly. Christians should have a positive disposition not always finding fault with everything. They should have a temper that draws people to them; something so attractive that others can’t help but love it.
As Christians our conversation should always be lovely, useful for others. Paul wrote that no corrupting talk should come from our mouths, but should be good for building up and give peace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29). Our speech should be gracious and free of slander and obscene talk (Colossians 3:8; 4:6). We should analyze whether or not the information we share is useful to others.
It should be our aim as Christians to always have a temper that exemplifies and glorifies Christ. Our goal is to draw others to Christ by our amiable disposition. Albert Barnes wrote, “A Christian should not be sour, crabbed, and irritable in his temper for nothing tends so much to injure the cause of religion as a temper always chafed . . . A sour and crabbed temper in a professor of religion will undo all the good he attempts to do.” Paul wrote, Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2:14-15 ESV)
I do not wish to minimalize that fact that there are Christians who suffer from depression due to either a chemical imbalance or unfortunate events in their lives. However, generally speaking a Christian should think lovely thoughts and have a lovely disposition.
Do you think the best of others? Do you have a positive outlook on life?
Scriptures for meditation:
Colossians 3:2