What do you find lovely? What do you see around you that is pleasing? Pleasing is a synonym for lovely. I think sometimes we use some words lightly when we describe something or someone. My wife is lovely. My daughters are lovely. My retirement is lovely. They all bring my joy. The true meaning of lovely goes beyond simple physical looks. It describes a soft, graceful beauty that touches the heart and mind, combined with inner kindness, warmth, and a gentle spirit that makes someone or something a joy to experience. Based on this definition, what can you find in society that is lovely? With some much ugliness in the world, it can be difficult to identify something lovely. All this ugliness can contribute to our anxiety.
Returning to the apostle Paul’s list of things to think about to reduce our anxiety we find the word lovely. So far we’ve looked at thinking about things that are true, noble, right, and pure. Now we have come to “lovely.” As we look at the true meaning of lovely we find that it is much more than outward appearance. It is the core of what is lovely. It is a kind, warm, and gentle spirit. It is something or someone who touches our spirit, the core of our being. Nothing in all creation can touch our spirit like Jesus. Remember Genesis 1:27 where we learn we were created in the image of God. God intended for us to be connected to Him spirit to Spirit. I believe this is what Paul is talking about when he says to think about what is lovely. The lovely we need to turn our thoughts to is Jesus. No one on earth can touch our spirit like Jesus.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2). When we conform to the patterns of this world we will have anxiety. Why? Because we were created in the image of God, not the image of the world. Conforming to the patterns of this world is contrary to who we are. This conflict only increases our anxiety. However, as we see in Romans 12:2, we can be transformed by our thinking. The renewing of our minds happens when we think about the things Paul lists in Philippians 4:8. The will of God is good, pleasing, and perfect. When we are in the will of God, we will experience a decrease in our anxiety. There is a person who far exceeds anything we find lovely in all of creation. That person is Jesus.
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