Keep in Step with the Spirit | Anchored in Hope Devotional

As a continuation of last week’s devotional, we are discussing what it looks like to keep in step with the Spirit. We already know the attributes of one who lives a life controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 says “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

So today, we are looking at Philippians 4:8 as a criteria by which we can decipher if our thoughts and deeds are aligned according to God’s will for us.

Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

The list of principles in this verse is a criteria for what we should be thinking about. Let’s briefly run through each of these attributes and see how they apply to everyday life as a Christian.

True - What kind of content do you think about? Are you believing in a lie to make sin look less bad, or are you pondering on what is true according to God and the reasoning skills He gave you?

Honorable - Other translations have translated this word as “honest” or “right.” This word in other passages has sometimes been translated as “dignified.” Do we think about things that are considered right, honorable, or dignified according to God, or do we let our mind dwell on thoughts that would displease a holy God?

Right - This is similar to the previous principle. It has also been translated “just” in other translations. The question here is essentially the same as the last principle, do we dwell on what is in alignment with God’s holiness?

Pure - Do we meditate on thoughts that are pure, undefiled, and clean before God, or do we let our minds drift into thoughts we would want no one else to hear?

Next week we will cover the second half of the principles mentioned in this verse. But first, I would like to remind us that we shouldn’t view these principles as some legalistic formula to make God love us. Instead, we should let the incomprehensible love of Jesus who died for our sins be our motivation to live according to the new man He has made us into.

Romans 8:14-15 says “14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””

- Ramiro D. Franco