And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. 

Fix your thoughts on what is true, 

and honorable, 

and right, 

and pure,

and lovely, 

and admirable. 

Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8 NLT

Some days it's really tough work to fix my thoughts on anything in Paul's lockdown list.

Paul is confined in a Roman prison with the potential to remain there the rest of his life, yet there is something he can control - his thinking.

It takes work to keep our thoughts on what is true. 

To filter out our interpretations.

With all that is dishnonoring to people, all that is ugly and damaged, we need to be deliberate to think about what is honourable, pure, lovely. Look for beauty, create some, dwell on it, fix your thoughts there.

Whatever is right. 

Just. 

Righteous. 

Just in God's eyes. 

We cannot shrink from injustice. 

We could do word studies on each of these things, but the key thing here is where we fix our thoughts. Paul indicates we can control what we do with our thinking. I can't stop thoughts popping into my mind, but I can choose what to do with them. 

To let them dwell, or flush them. 

And I can use this list to find and dwell on what builds up my soul.

#somethingtodwellon

#lockdownlessons