Last week, the middle schoolers and I reflected on a passage of Scripture that has been a part of my personal Scripture study time as of late. In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul urges,

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. 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

We took time to reflect on the things that we see, hear, and experience on a daily basis. If you sat down and thought about every single thing that your eyes have seen and your ears have heard in the past 24 hours, it would be pretty difficult, wouldn’t it?! Even within 10 minutes, we take in so much information and sights and sounds. We don’t always have control over what things flood our hearts and minds, but we do have quite a bit.

The reality about the way we are as humans is that we are profoundly affected by what we take in. Our brains are shaped by everything we experience. Television, music, social media, the news, conversations, you name it–these things have the power to take root in us, for better or for worse. And what often happens is that our thoughts, words, and actions are directly impacted by what is rooted in us. In other words, what goes in is what comes out.

What Paul offers in his encouragement to his fellow believers and to us in the verses you just read is a filter through which everything we see, hear, and experience can go through. When we allow what goes in to be filtered through these things, then what comes out will be pleasing to God.

But, what do we do with those things that we can’t control? Paul also gives us wisdom for that in the verses just before these,

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7

We are invited to give everything to God in prayer. When we do this, our hearts and minds will be guarded with the peace of Christ, meaning we have protection against things that are potentially dangerous and harmful to our hearts and minds.

Here is a prayer I adapted for myself and for the middle school students as a way to practice what Paul is encouraging, and I hope it is a helpful prayer for you at the beginning of each day as you seek to live into God’s will for your life, his pleasing and perfect will.

“Father, you have filled this world with so much to enjoy, celebrate, and experience. Help me to fill my thoughts with what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable today. And protect my heart against the things I can’t control. Amen.”