What Are You Training Your Mind to Look For?
Have you ever walked into a store knowing exactly what you wanted?
Maybe you are looking for a particular color of shirt. You already have the color pictured in your mind before you walk through the door.
You begin moving through racks filled with hundreds of shirts, different colors, patterns, fabrics, and styles, but your eyes are searching for one thing.
That color.
Then suddenly you see it.
Across the aisle.
There it is.
Someone shopping beside you might be looking for an entirely different color. They are walking through the exact same department, looking at the exact same racks, surrounded by the exact same merchandise, but they keep noticing something completely different.
Neither person is imagining what they see.
Those things really are there.
But each person entered the store with a different search in mind.
The same thing happens in a craft store.
If I walk into a yarn aisle looking for one particular brand, my eyes begin scanning labels. There may be hundreds of skeins surrounding me. Different fibers. Different weights. Different colors. Different manufacturers.
But I am searching for that brand.
So that is what catches my attention.
It isn’t that the other yarn isn’t there.
It simply isn’t what I’m looking for.
And I wonder whether we realize how often we do exactly the same thing with life.
What Are You Looking For?
Philippians 4:8 gives us one of the clearest instructions in Scripture concerning where we direct our thoughts:
“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.”— Philippians 4:8 KJV
We often read this verse as an instruction about positive thinking.
Think good thoughts.
Don’t think negatively.
Focus on something pleasant.
But I think Paul is giving us something much more substantial than that.
Look at the language.
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.
Virtue.
Praise.
Then:
Think on these things.
Paul is directing attention.
He is telling believers that we should be intentional about what we continually allow our minds to dwell upon.
And that raises an important question:
What have I been training my mind to look for?
Your Mind Is Always Receiving Information
From the moment we wake up, information begins competing for our attention.
We pick up our phones.
We read headlines.
We scroll through social media.
We listen to conversations.
We hear opinions.
We watch videos.
We read comments.
We hear about crime.
We hear about corruption.
We hear about tragedy.
We hear about arguments.
We hear about scandals.
We hear predictions about everything that might go wrong tomorrow.
Then we encounter our own lives.
Someone doesn’t answer a message.
Someone speaks sharply.
Something doesn’t work.
A bill arrives.
Plans change.
Someone disappoints us.
An opportunity falls through.
None of those things are necessarily imaginary.
Some of them are very real.
But something can happen when our attention repeatedly returns to the same kinds of information.
We begin looking for more of it.
And when we look for something often enough, we become very good at finding it.
If You’re Looking for What’s Wrong, You’ll Find It
Suppose I begin believing that people cannot be trusted.
Now I start watching people differently.
I notice every broken promise.
Every inconsistency.
Every questionable motive.
Every dishonest person.
Every betrayal.
Every story about someone taking advantage of somebody else becomes another piece of evidence.
See?
You can’t trust anyone.
But what did I notice today about the person who kept their word?
What about the stranger who returned the wallet?
What about the employee who admitted a mistake when they could have hidden it?
What about the friend who quietly showed up when someone needed help?
Those things happened too.
But perhaps they weren’t what I was scanning for.
The same thing can happen with offense.
If I continually expect people to offend me, I can become extraordinarily skilled at detecting offensive behavior.
A facial expression.
A tone of voice.
A delayed response.
A poorly chosen word.
A comment that could possibly have meant something else.
My mind begins scanning:
Was that directed at me?
What did she mean by that?
Why did he say it that way?
And before long, I may sincerely believe that people are constantly offending me.
But perhaps the world didn’t suddenly become filled exclusively with offensive people.
Perhaps offense has simply become something my attention has been trained to detect.
Fear Can Train Our Sight Too
Fear does the same thing.
If I am constantly looking for danger, I will find reasons to be afraid.
There is no shortage of frightening information available to us.
If I want evidence that the world is dangerous, I can find it before breakfast.
If I want evidence that society is falling apart, I can scroll until midnight.
If I want evidence that people are corrupt, dishonest, cruel, selfish, or immoral, there is enough material available to keep me occupied every waking hour.
Again, the issue isn’t that those things aren’t real.
They are.
This is important because Philippians 4:8 is not telling Christians to deny reality.
In fact, look at the first category Paul gives us:
“Whatsoever things are true.”
Truth comes first.
Biblical thinking is never built upon pretending.
We don’t call evil good.
We don’t ignore injustice.
We don’t deny suffering.
We don’t pretend betrayal didn’t hurt.
We don’t close our eyes to danger.
We don’t pretend everything is wonderful when it isn’t.
But recognizing something is very different from continually making it the object of our attention.
Seeing Something Is Not the Same as Dwelling on It
There are things we need to recognize.
There are problems we need to address.
There are dangers we need to respond to.
There are injustices that require action.
There are painful situations that need our attention.
Paul is not instructing us to become oblivious.
But there is a difference between seeing something and dwelling upon it.
I can recognize that dishonesty exists without spending my life looking for dishonesty everywhere.
I can recognize that people sometimes betray one another without expecting betrayal from everyone I meet.
I can recognize that terrible things happen without spending hours consuming stories about terrible things.
I can acknowledge corruption without allowing corruption to become the lens through which I see every person and institution.
I can recognize darkness without training my eyes to see nothing else.
And perhaps that distinction is exactly why Paul tells us what deserves sustained attention.
Paul Gives Our Attention a Search List
Imagine walking into that enormous department store again.
This time someone hands you a list before you enter.
Look for these things:
True.
Honest.
Just.
Pure.
Lovely.
Good report.
Virtue.
Praise.
Now imagine walking through your day with that list.
What is true here?
Not what am I assuming.
Not what am I afraid might happen.
Not what someone on social media predicted.
What is actually true?
What is honorable here?
Who is behaving with integrity?
Who quietly did the right thing?
What is just?
Where is fairness being practiced?
Where is someone standing up for what is right?
What is pure?
Where do I see sincerity rather than manipulation?
Where do I see something uncorrupted?
What is lovely?
What beauty did God place around me today that I almost walked past?
What is of good report?
What happened today that was actually worth talking about?
Where is virtue?
Where did someone demonstrate courage, patience, generosity, faithfulness, compassion, restraint, or kindness?
What is worthy of praise?
What did God do today that deserves my gratitude?
Suddenly Philippians 4:8 becomes incredibly practical.
Paul has given our attention something to look for.
What We Repeatedly Look For Becomes Easier to See
Think again about walking into the craft store looking for one particular brand of yarn.
At first you may need to examine every label.
But after you’ve bought that brand repeatedly, something changes.
You recognize the label.
You recognize the packaging.
You recognize the colors.
Eventually you can spot it from several feet away.
Why?
Because you’ve trained yourself to recognize it.
The same thing can happen with our attention.
If I repeatedly look for reasons to complain, complaints become easier to find.
If I repeatedly look for people’s faults, faults become easier to notice.
If I repeatedly look for threats, threats become easier to detect.
If I repeatedly look for reasons to be angry, anger continually finds something to feed upon.
But what might happen if I begin intentionally looking for what Paul names in Philippians 4:8?
Perhaps I begin recognizing honesty more quickly.
Perhaps I begin noticing kindness I previously overlooked.
Perhaps beauty starts catching my attention again.
Perhaps I become more aware of what God is doing.
Perhaps gratitude begins interrupting complaint.
Not because everything around me suddenly changed.
But because I changed what I was training myself to notice.
This Is Not “Manifesting”
There is an important distinction here, especially in a culture filled with teachings about manifestation, energy, attraction, and supposedly creating reality through our thoughts.
Philippians 4:8 is not teaching that.
Paul is not saying:
Think positively and positive things will happen.
He is not saying:
Focus on abundance and you will attract abundance.
He is not saying:
Your thoughts create reality.
Biblical faith does not require us to pretend our minds possess some spiritual power to manufacture circumstances.
The department store already contained all those colors.
The craft store already contained all those brands of yarn.
Changing what you were looking for didn’t magically place something on the shelf.
It changed what you noticed among what was already there.
That is an important difference.
Philippians 4:8 is not about creating reality.
It is about disciplining attention.
Look at What Comes Before Verse 8
Philippians 4:8 becomes even more meaningful when we read what Paul says immediately before it.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”— Philippians 4:6 KJV
Then:
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”— Philippians 4:7 KJV
And then Paul tells them what to think about.
That sequence matters.
Anxiety.
Prayer.
Thanksgiving.
God’s peace guarding the heart and mind.
Then intentional thought.
Paul doesn’t merely tell anxious people:
Stop worrying.
He redirects them.
Bring your requests to God.
Do it with thanksgiving.
Allow God’s peace to guard your heart and mind.
Then become intentional about what your mind continues dwelling upon.
And after verse 8, Paul moves into practice:
“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do…”— Philippians 4:9 KJV
Thought doesn’t remain thought.
Eventually it moves into how we live.
What Has Your Attention Been Practicing?
Maybe that’s the question worth sitting with this week.
Not simply:
What have I been thinking about?
But:
What has my attention been practicing?
Have I been practicing finding what’s wrong?
Have I been practicing suspicion?
Have I been practicing outrage?
Have I been practicing fear?
Have I been practicing criticism?
Have I been practicing comparison?
Have I been practicing expecting disappointment?
Because eventually we can become so practiced at looking for something that we barely realize we’re doing it anymore.
We walk into the room already searching.
We open social media already searching.
We enter the conversation already searching.
We meet the person already searching.
And then we are surprised when we continually find exactly what we expected.
What Else Was There?
Perhaps one of the healthiest questions we could begin asking ourselves is:
What else was there?
Yes, someone was rude today.
What else was there?
Someone else held the door.
Someone smiled.
Someone checked on a friend.
Someone did their job well.
Someone showed patience.
Someone prayed.
Someone forgave.
Someone gave without being asked.
Someone told the truth when lying would have been easier.
Someone loved somebody well.
None of that erases the rude person.
Both were there.
That’s the point.
We aren’t replacing reality with positivity.
We’re refusing to reduce reality to only the things that reinforce the way we’ve trained ourselves to see.
Maybe There Is More Around You Than You Realize
Sometimes we say:
“Everything is terrible.”
But everything?
Or everything we’ve been noticing?
“Nobody can be trusted.”
Nobody?
Or have we become much better at remembering betrayal than faithfulness?
“There isn’t anything good happening anymore.”
Nothing?
Or have our eyes become so accustomed to scanning for what’s wrong that what is good no longer catches our attention?
That doesn’t mean every conclusion we’ve reached is wrong.
It means Philippians 4:8 gives us permission to examine the lens through which we’ve been looking.
Because our attention matters.
And Paul apparently believed it mattered enough to tell the church exactly what deserved theirs.
Give Your Mind a Different Search Assignment
Tomorrow morning, before the noise begins, perhaps we could take Paul’s list seriously.
Not as a formula.
Not as positive thinking.
Not as denial.
But as discipline.
Today, I am going to look for what is true.
I am going to notice what is honorable.
I am going to recognize what is just.
I am going to protect what is pure.
I am going to notice what is lovely.
I am going to pay attention to what is of good report.
I am going to recognize virtue.
I am going to remember what deserves praise.
The darkness will still exist.
Problems will still require attention.
People will still disappoint us.
Pain will still be real.
But darkness does not have to receive the exclusive rights to our attention.
There is more on the shelf.
There is more in the room.
There is more happening around us.
There is more to see.
And perhaps the first step toward seeing it is asking ourselves one honest question:
What have I been training my mind to look for?
Much Love
~Gayla~
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