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Garbage In, Garbage Out

"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."  Phil. 4:8

I know in my heart that someone needs to hear this today:

"We are worth more than the result of our efforts."*
 
I know this because I, myself, needed to hear this yesterday.  In God's perfect and sovereign timing, He placed this statement on the most opportune day of my personal devotional reading where I would hear Him quietly and poignantly reassure me that my imperfections don't detract from how He feels about me.
 
I wish I could tell you that having a strong faith in Christ was an automatic cure for poor self-esteem or self-confidence.  The truth is, Christ is the cure for it, but it is just like any other medicine.  You have to choose to take it on a daily basis.  Most of the time we choose to swallow and digest what the world fills our medicine cup with, rather than what Christ fills it with.
 
Philippians 4:8 is a workhorse of a verse!  You can apply this verse to numerous situations in life: from telling it to a child after a bad dream, to reciting it to a co-worker who is filled with negativity, or to looking in the mirror and reminding ourselves that God made a praiseworthy creation when He made us!
 
This verse is perfect for those internal and external situations that bring about negative thoughts in our heads.  We should all try to put this verse to memory!
 
When I was in high school and was taking a Computers Class, my teacher was constantly reminding us that the computer was only capable of producing whatever we told it to produce.  We had to give it the proper commands in order for it to operate correctly.  She very frequently used the phrase:
 
"Garbage in, garbage out."
 
Don't you think that's what Paul is trying to tell us in Philippians 4:8?  He wants us to see that the thoughts that we allow to seep into our head will have a great effect on our attitudes and our actions. 
 
We can choose to allow the world to determine our self-worth, or we can take Paul's advice and counteract the world's negative input with our own positive thoughts.  The devil would love nothing more than to see God's people down trodden and beating themselves up for their imperfections and shortcomings.  However, God would love nothing more than for His people to rise above the negativity of the world and live in the forgiveness and grace that He freely offers us.
 
The second application is just as important as the first.  It doesn't deal with our personal misgivings, but it deals with the misgivings of others. 
 
Can't we always find something wrong with just about anything?  Whether it's the service we receive at a restaurant, or the weather, or a newscaster's hairstyle, or a grammatical error in a book or newspaper article, we must strive to look for something positive and not always point out the negative. 
 
One of the biggest hindrances to the testimony of many Christians is our negative attitudes.  We have to constantly remind ourselves to be looking for the good in people and in situations.  We have to make giving people the benefit of the doubt become second nature to us.  We might even need to remind ourselves that God has not appointed us as the General Manager of the world!
 
There are so many praiseworthy and noble things that we can point out in other people and Christians should be the biggest cheerleaders and encouragers to our fellow man.  If we truly can't find anything positive to say, we should fall back on the age old adage of:
 
"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!"
 
Hear me when I say that I am not trying to preach the "power of positive thinking" mantra.  However, I believe that every word in the Bible is true and is inspired by God, so we can't neglect Paul's teaching about the effects of our thoughts.  We should be filling our minds and hearts with those things that God Himself is desiring to speak into our lives.
 
Sit back and ask yourself these questions:
  • Have you been allowing the negative sentiments of the world to determine your self-worth?
  • Do you let your failures stay at the forefront of your mind?
  • Have you allowed your own negativity to keep you from looking for the good in others?
Will you pray with me today that God will use this verse to radically transform our internal thoughts, as well as our external actions towards others?  Will you strive to have your daily testimony reflect this transformation that has taken place on the inside of you? 
 
Remember, God is crazy about you!  That is something excellent to think about!  Remind yourself that whenever the devil tries to bring you down. 
 
 
*Nouwen, Henri. Show Me the Way:  Daily Lenten Readings.  1992 by Crossroad Publishing Co.  p. 68.
 
 

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