Memory Verse for February

 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 
 Philippians 4:8 NIV


Memory verse time again. This wonderful bit of wisdom from the book of Philippians has long been a favorite of mine although I have never selected it for memorization. I chose this verse because I use it frequently as a barometer for my life choices. 

If you put this verse in front of you every time you turned on the television would you choose the same shows? Would you attend the same movies or read the same books? 

What about looking using this verse to take a look at yourself? Is your behavior noble, lovely or admirable? Are you human? If you just answered yes to that last question, your behavior is the exact opposite of these traits at least 75% of the time. We try hard, but then someone makes a comment that hurts us and we respond in anger. We start off our day with someone cutting us off in traffic and anything lovely we were cultivating went right out the window. Being the fallible humans we are, we tend to let our behaviors ride and respond to the emotion of the moment losing sight of our desire to be true, noble, right, pure, lovely or admirable. 


Does this make us hopeless? Nope. It just reaffirms our deep need for Jesus. Without his forgiveness we are lost, without his love we are empty. Without his light we are lost in a sea of darkness. Without his guidance we will never know anything close to truth, nobility, righteousness or purity. 


I challenge you to use this verse to check your actions and reactions for the remainder of February. I would love to hear how this verse works it's way into your daily life. 


In His Peace -