What is lovely?
According to The Free Dictionary, lovely means:
1. Full of love; loving.
2. Inspiring love or affection.
3. Having beauty that appeals to the emotions as well as to the eye.
4. Enjoyable; delightful.
When we say something is lovely, it’s positive. But is it worldly?
To use the term lovely as meant in Philippians 4:8, I think that it must “inspire affection” for a Kingdom cause.
We can call many natural phenomena lovely. I love to worship God through Nature. A waterfall is lovely. A butterfly. A flower. A laughing child.
Humanists and even many Christians tell us that we’re all lovely. But I don’t like the imagery they create with their pep talks. Their universal consciousness makes me uncomfortable. Their admonition that we all just need to search for the beauty within make me wonder. Their particular shade of justification deceives and pulls in many doubters and offers a safe haven that isn’t truth.
In Romans 3:10, it tells us that none of us is good.
This is a difficult concept for Christians and non-Christians. No one wants to be told she isn’t good. No one wants to be told she is ugly. How do you approach non-believers with this concept?
But all loveliness and goodness in us is because of Christ. See Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19.
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty! Psalm 84:1
Aren’t we all dwelling places for the Holy Spirit?
Therefore, we should take care of these temples as best we can in order to do the work we are called to do. But that’s another post for another day.
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