8/11/24 Word Count – 525 Reading Time – 2 minutes

Recently politics and the Olympics have been consuming a lot of my mental energy. In my view everything has a spiritual context, and I try to understand how the events in the world tie into the spiritual nature of things. But sometimes it just becomes a distraction.

Philippians 4:8 admonishes us to; “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”.

Rather than following Paul’s advice above, I have been allowing myself to be distracted by the controversies of the political arena and bizarre occurrences at the Olympics. These 2 topics seem to lack much of what Paul says we should think on.

It’s not that I am an advocate of going through life with your head in the sand, oblivious to the world around you. Rather, I think it is good to be aware of the world, but not be absorbed by it. As Christians we are fortunate enough to be a part of an existence above and beyond what the world has to offer. We should be quick to focus on the beauty of our faith, the magnificence of God, the wonder of His creation and the love of Christ as a point of attention rather than the upheavals of the confused and misguided throngs of humanity that dominate the headlines.

Even though you couldn’t tell it from reading the headlines, there is truth, honesty, justice, purity and loveliness in the world. There are things of good report, there is virtue and things that are praiseworthy. For our own good, for our own spiritual and mental health, we should seek these things out and think on them because these characteristics reflect the character of God. When we dwell on beauty, and truth, and virtue, and goodness, and love, we are opening our hearts to the touch of God and we are expressing our appreciation for His influence on, and presence in the world.

If God had not breathed His spirit into our flesh and given us His moral standards as a guideline for maintaining and growing His spirit within us, truth, honesty, justice, purity, and beauty would be irrelevant. While there are a few examples in the animal kingdom of behaviors that may bear vague and rudimentary resemblance to human virtue, no creature other than humans pursues these characteristics as desirable values. Art, culture, justice, honesty, valor, altruism and many more virtues are gifts from God that uplift our spirit.

Because God exists in our world, and because God is the pinnacle of good we do have good in our world, in spite of what we may read in the headlines. When you find yourself getting consumed by the lunacy in the world seek out the things that are honest, the things that are just, the things that are pure, the things that are lovely, the things that are of good report, the things that are virtuous, the things that are praiseworthy. Think on these things and praise God that they exist in our world.