Philippians 4:8: "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."
Do you ever get caught up in one of those moods? You know, the mood where everything in the world is absolutely going wrong and the entire universe is perpetually out to get you.
As that mood takes over, you feel all of your thoughts suddenly turning negative and your entire demeanor shifting south.
As I fell victim to one of those moods lately, I began to wonder why I was even being negative. Was my negativity benefitting myself or those around me? Was I projecting the image of God onto those around me by glaring instead of smiling? Did it make me happy to act in such a hateful manner? Obviously, the answer to my questions was no.
With my answer being no, I wanted a way to redirect my negative thoughts into positive ones.
But how?
That's when God presented me with Philippians 4:8.
So, with that verse in mind, I made a list with "whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy", and repeated the list over and over until my negative thoughts fell away.
Below I inserted my own "List of Whatevers". My challenge for you, dear reader, is to make your own "List of Whatevers" and repeat them to yourself when one of those moods sneaks up on you again.
Whatever is True
God loves you! (added bonus: it rhymes)
Whatever is Noble
God's word. What could ever be more noble, moral, or superior than the word of the one who is the noblest of all?
Whatever is Right
God is righteous. His actions toward all of us are just and according to His divine plan for our lives. We may not understand every part of our plan, but God can see it all.
Whatever is Pure
Snow. The cross.
Whatever is Lovely
The sunrise, pretty flowers, the smell of a crisp winter morning!
Whatever is Admirable
My mother (I love that sweet lady).
Whatever is Excellent
The stars! (After all, God placed them in the sky and knows every single one of them by name. How excellent is that?)
Whatever is Praiseworthy
God. If He can do big things like move mountains AND little things like changing my bad mood, how could I not praise Him?
Focus on the whatever, not the negative and you'll be surprised how quickly your bad mood will melt away!
