Practically Thanksgiving

” 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, 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. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” - Philippians 4:8-9

All week I have been telling you to change your filters. Changing your filters requires us to do something tangible. Unfortunately, it’s easier said than done. Also unfortunate is that Paul doesn’t give us straightforward instructions for doing this in these verses. He just says to put it into practice. However, the answer is here if we look closely.

Paul tells us to think about true, noble, right, and pure things. This is the answer! It has to do with how our minds work. On Monday we learned that negative things are sticky in our minds, while positive things are slippery. To change our filter, we must constantly flood our minds with the positive things, since they slip away so easy.

The best way to do this is to recognize gratitude. Being positive requires tangible practices of recognizing gratitude. In other words, we can change our filter by being thankful.

There is something about being thankful that sets our mind on a different course. It alters the filter in which we view the world and allows us to see the positive where we may have not been noticed. The more we practice gratitude to work on our filters, the more it fuels and transforms us so that we can give good things to the world and to each other.

Take a minute and think of three things that you are thankful for right now. For the rest of the day, every time you check the time, take just one second and remember one of the things you are thankful for. I bet you’ll find a big perspective shift as the day goes on.

Spend a few moments in prayer asking Jesus to help you be thankful. Ask Jesus to let those positive things gain some grip in your mind. Pray that your filters can change and be and encouragement and a benefit to those around you.