Hold That Thought! If there is any Excellence…
Hold That Thought! If there is any Excellence…
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is TRUE, whatever is HONORABLE, whatever is RIGHTEOUS, whatever is PURE, whatever is WINSOME, whatever is COMMENDABLE, if there is any MORAL EXCELLENCE, if there is anything PRAISEWORTHY… dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8).
Dwell – (Greek, “logizesthe”): an accounting term that literally means to carefully use your reason as you take full account of something; to thoughtfully evaluate something in a sensible way as you consider the worth of something; to calculate with focus and discernment; to personally measure what counts in the eyes of God. In this passage, to dwell on these worthwhile realities is to fix your mind on them, to meditate on them, to fill your mind with them, to focus deeply on them. To dwell on these heavenly realities is to dwell within them, to find a home inside these godly attributes, to think about these things to the extent that you are living into them. To dwell upon these things also means that your mind is creating a home for them to reside deep within you. To dwell upon is to allow these spiritual realities to become a part of your life, dwelling in you and shaping you. These virtues are not merely “passing fancies” or temporary mental events, but are fixed in your mind to the extent that they become a part of your character. The root word for “logizesthe” is the rich, meaningful Greek word “logos.” So, to dwell on these aspects of divine goodness means we are to become “logos-like” in the life of the mind, to think and reason like the heavenly Logos. To be logos-like is to truly use the mind of Logos-Christ which has been given to us. To be logos-like is to actively participate in the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:1-2) within by filling it with that which fills the mind of Christ Himself. To be logos-like is to continue daily the holy process of thinking deeply about those realities that are pleasing to God and would keep drawing us into a personal relationship with Him. Naturally, to choose to dwell on these life-giving realities implies that at the same time we are rejecting those thoughts that are unhealthy, destructive, and unworthy of God’s presence in our lives.
Interesting Thoughts about Thoughts:
(1.) I am what I think. I become what I choose to think about. My character is shaped by the life of my mind. My attitudes are built on the foundations of my thoughts. My lifestyle is determined by whatever I fill my mind with. My destiny begins with my thought life.
(2.) According to the latest brain imaging studies (2022), we each have about 6,200 different thoughts a day. They are called “thought worms” and are distinct, measurable shifts in brain activity that represent the transition from one idea or image to another.
(3.) We each can rewire our brains by how we think. It’s called “cognitive reframing,” based on the plasticity of our brains that are able to build new neural pathways by choosing to think differently. We each have the ability to train our minds to identify harmful thoughts, replace them with life-giving thoughts, and then practice those healthier thoughts through repetition until those new thoughts become a mental habit.
(4.) When dwelling on thoughts like what St. Paul suggested above, we are making new neural pathways that become dominant and succeed in rewiring the brain to have the ability to naturally filter out harmful thoughts and welcome life-giving thoughts.
(5.) When we are “in Christ,” we are inviting God’s Holy Spirit to renew our minds and enable us to rewire our brains, our ways of thinking, which determine our attitudes, behaviors and feelings. Each person hs the ability to do a lot of the legwork in this process, but only the Spirit of God can do the heavy lifting and enable us to think with the “mind of Christ.”
(6.) In this sinful world, harmful thoughts assault us every day, and there’s not much we can do about that. But we can try to keep them at a minimum by not entertaining these thoughts, by not welcoming them into our minds in such a way that we dwell on them and fill our minds with them. As Martin Luther once said about temptations… “We can’t stop the birds from flying overhead, but we can stop them from building a nest in our hair.”
Excellence: (Greek, “Arete”): St. Paul shifts from his particular suggestions for our mental check list to a couple of summary qualities… that which is excellent and praiseworthy. The term he uses for excellence, the one time he used this word in all his writings, is centered on moral excellence and virtue. Fill your minds with thoughts that help you flourish morally, Paul is teaching us. Fix your mind on ideas that help you to develop integrity and goodness. Arete is a character word, and we are to focus on ideas that nourish a godly character, an inner core of goodness that can be demonstrated to a watching world. Paul is cajoling us into developing a habit of excellent thinking, of keeping the moral standards of our thought life at a high level, strengthening our mind’s muscle to do some heavy lifting in a largely immoral world. Putting our best mind forward would have to include a focus on arete, on thoughts that reflect our growing desire for an exceptional character that reveals the very character of God Himself. Impossible? Read on…
“Because of His glory and goodness, He has given us great and precious promises, so that through them you may escape from the world’s corruption due to disordered passions and human desires, and may become partakers of the divine nature, participants in His nature, sharing in the divine life of God in partnership with Him.” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
God’s discipline is always good for us, He corrects us throughout our lives for our own good, so that we may share in His holiness.” (Hebrews 12:10).
SHARING GOD’S HOLINESS: Being set apart from sin and its consequences; Growing in those aspects of divine nature that God shares with believers; Being partners with Christ in His divinity because of His partnership with us in humanity; Cultivating divine characteristics because of intimate fellowship with God; God’s image being restored in us because of our union with Him; The result of participating in the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Acquiring God’s spiritual DNA.
Partakers of God’s Divine Nature. This is a great mystery of the Faith… when we join with Jesus, we share in His holiness. We become partakers of His divine nature. Does that make us Gods? Are we changed into His essence? Does sharing with Jesus’ holiness make us worthy of worship? The quick answer is no. There will always be a profound distinction between man and God. We do not become God, we do not become divine. Humans cannot take on the nature of God, but we can acquire Godlikeness. This is indeed a mystery. We participate in God’s holiness. We become intimate partners with God in a unique fellowship. We share in His divine nature, without becoming God. We become God-like. As we participate in God’s nature, we become more like Him in moral excellence, in goodness and virtue and integrity. This won’t happen under our own steam, through our own efforts. The more we partake of God’s nature, the more like Him we become in moral excellence and in every other of His qualities.
“For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are suited to life and godliness through the personal knowledge of Him who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (“arete”). (2 Peter 1:3).
Hopeless without Life IN Christ. Koinonia may be the closest Greek word in the ancient world to the modern term “relationship,” and it is biblically described as: fellowship; personal communion; held in common; shared partnership; close companionship; in community; active participation; partakers; deeply united; intimately bonded; dwell or abide within. “God is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into partnership (koinonia) with His Son, a life of communion and participation in His life. God has called you to co-share the very life of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:9).
“However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the moral excellence (“arete“) of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9).
“In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence (“arete”), and moral excellence with knowledge… (2 Peter 1:5).
“Keep your behavior excellent (“arete”) among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of His return.” (1 Peter 2:12).