DO’S AND DON’TS

Phil. 4:5-9

The Lord is near.

 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 Finally, brethren, 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.

 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

I know Christianity is much more than a list of do’s and don’ts, but there are some things that can fall into that kind category.

Notice this phrase, ‘dwell on these things”. I think this paragraph could qualify as a list of dos? Don’t you?

I want to take the other side for a moment and look at the opposites, the don’ts if you will. 

Don’t dwell on things that are untrue, dishonorable, unrighteous, impure, unlovely, of ill or bad repute, things that lack excellence of quality or attitude, or things that are not worthy of praise.

Now our focus to be sure should be on the positive list given to us in the scripture, but if some of the things we are allowing ourselves to dwell upon fall into the negative list I think we can all agree our focus needs to change. 

One fact that has always been apparent to me is that all these positive traits can be applied to the Word of God. If you need something good to think about the Word is a great place to start.

One last thought in regard to Paul’s instruction to follow his example. When he was in the storm about to be shipwrecked, he was focused on God. When he and Silas were beaten and in chains, their focus was on God and their praise to Him. I can only remember him “whining” one time, and once he heard that God’s grace was sufficient for him, he went on to learn that he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him. Following his example is a challenge but one well worth taking up.

 

SELAH