Philippians 4:8,9 - Noble thoughts

4:8

We now get one of the best known verses in Philippians, “Whatever is noble ...” This follows on from the previous words about anxiety and is part of the antidote for worry. If we spend our time focusing on unworthy things, on hateful or sordid things then it will have all sorts of detrimental effects on our lives. One of these will be that it provides a fertile soil for fear and anxiety to breed in. Instead we should focus on good and noble things. “Think about such things” is stronger than merely pondering them, it means taking into account, ie making them part of the basis for our world view and approach to life. Think about the good and the positive. Now this does not mean we live in some sort of pollyannaish world, totally blind to the realities of life, but if we delight in the negative, delight in gossip, delight in intrigue and conspiracies it will most definitely have a negative effect on us and will not produce the fruit of the gospel.

4:9

An important part of this focusing on whatever is noble is focusing on people of good character. We must not make idols out of people, for any person you choose will have their own collection of faults and at some point those will come to the fore and you will be disappointed if you have made an idol out of them (and that includes making idols out of husbands or wives). However, we should all seek to be examples, there should be some aspects of our lives that others can learn from positively. We should be moving in the right direction. This was true of Paul, so he urges the Philippians to imitate him, to learn from him. If we seek to live lives of integrity then peace will be part of the fruit. If we focus on the negative things then peace will not be ours, but as we walk in step with the Spirit we will find that the God of peace will be with us. Now remember that the chapter and verse numbers are a very late addition to the Bible. This is all part of Paul’s teaching on dealing with anxiety. See the emphasis on what God does. He guards our hearts and minds, and He is with us. What do we do? We do not seek to directly control our thoughts, rather we focus on doing good, focusing on the good. These are the things that will bring true peace.