We’ve all just rounded the corner on two LONG and painful years. I can’t believe it’s Spring 2022. I woke up recently in the night with this old song on my mind:  

“Think about things that are pure and lovely

Think about things that are good and true. 

Dwell on the finer things in others. 

Think about all your can praise God for.” (I cannot find a reference for this, and wonder if it was penned by a friend and we just sang it all the time)

Most of that comes from The Living Bible translation of Philippians 4:8, but the “dwell on the finer things in others” part really got to me. 

How much have I let my mind, my thoughts relax into “the flesh” in thinking about others? How little effort I make to choose my thoughts and take each one captive (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV)! How little I dwell on the finer things in others or think about only the things that are good, true, pure, and lovely. I must do the hard work of letting the Holy Spirit change this in me. I must give Him access to my inmost being, and permission to transform my mind. 

As we are all aware, social media is a blessing and a curse. If everyone had just stayed in the puppy-and-baby-picture-posting lane, social media would be like a virtual dinner party that we could enjoy any time we needed a smile. Instead, so many people decided they would passive-aggressively share their opinions on everything from their neighbor’s lawn care habits to the current president’s performance. And we consume those opinions without the benefit of a real conversation. (Would that person even have shared that opinion in a face-to-face conversation?) So, what do we do with Uncle Harvey, whom we have always loved dearly when he emphatically makes a declaration that runs opposite to our view on a subject? 

I want to criticize the person for scattering the seed of their opinions to the faceless masses via their Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds. But I also put myself in the position of consuming those opinions. Now, what am I to do with that? How can I expect to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ when my emotions are in fight or flight mode after reading posts that rile me up so?

A few years ago I took an active step in reducing the amount of information I was taking in. I felt like God had shown me that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not for human consumption. Isn’t that what got Adam and Eve (and the rest of us) in trouble (Genesis 2:17)? The human heart can only take in so much. So I reduced my Facebook friends from 750 to 75. And then I “unfollowed” many of those 75 so I wouldn’t be tempted to do anything but dwell on the finer things in others. Now my feed is full of ads because so few of the remaining friends ever post anything. Facebook has lost its shine for me. I’ve done something similar with Instagram, and I deleted my Twitter account years ago. 

We often make it difficult to dwell on the finer things in others when we consume indiscriminate venting by friends, family and acquaintances. My challenge for you today is to examine the input you receive. Is there a practical way to reduce the amount of information, especially opinion, that you read or listen to? Could you be more discriminating about your consumption? I wonder what our world would be like if we collectively believed the best in each other? 

Philippians 4:8 “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about.” (The Living Bible)