Whatsoever is . . . Right

Whatsoever is true, whatsoever is noble, whatsoever is right . . . think on such things.
Philippians 4:8

My husband and I struggled financially for years. We were broke when we found the purse in the middle of the road. I looked for an ID; instead, I saw a bunch of cash and a check register with more zeroes than I’d ever seen behind a number before. Friends told me to take a finder’s fee and mail the purse back. They assured me no one would know.

Except me. I would know.

The purse’s owner was grateful and read us three or four unpublishable poems she had written.

Right or Easy

I was a bit disappointed. I know doing the right thing should have been enough, but I wrestled with the fact someone who had so much didn’t offer a poor military family at least twenty dollars. I think that’s what makes focusing on what is right so difficult sometimes. The world doesn’t always appreciate it.

Sadly, most people aim for easy rather than right. In today’s microwave culture, too many want to skate through life.

You’ve probably heard The Parable of the Good Samaritan. On the road to Jericho, someone robbed a Jewish man and left him for dead. Three men passed by: two Jewish church leaders and a Samaritan, someone despised by the Jews. Stopping to help would have been inconvenient and possibly dangerous for any of the three.

The first two moved to the other side of the road and kept going. The third, the most unlikely, bandaged his wounds, and cared for him. Jesus called the Samaritan a neighbor. (Luke 10:25-37) I would say he just did the right thing.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, Daniel chose to honor God with his eating rather than follow his captors’ rules. (Daniel 1:11-14) Sixty years later, he chose right over easy again. Despite threats of being dropped into a lion’s den, Daniel refused to give up his prayer time or hide his loyalty to God. (Daniel 6:1-10)

Daniel gives us a chance to search our hearts. At sixteen or seventeen, would you have been willing to defy a guard’s orders to avoid going against your Creator? And how important is your prayer time? How do you feel about sleeping with lions after you retire? When we choose to look for the right, it won’t always be easy.

The Psychology of the Right Thing

For some reason, everything wrong stands out, especially when we’re tired or going through trauma. The prophet Elijah gives us an example.

God had stopped the rain for three years because Elijah asked. The Almighty had kept the prophet fed in the middle of the drought, and he raised a boy from the dead. When Elijah hit his lowest, he had just won a battle of the gods against the false prophets.

Despite everything that went right, Elijah felt spent. The king and queen were out to get him and he was done. He told God, “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

Would Elijah have felt differently if he had centered his thoughts on the fact that he had just soaked the wood of his sacrifice with at least twelve gallons of water, and God had breathed down fire in front of his enemies and devoured the entire offering as well as the water in the ditch around it? (1 Kings 17, 18, & 19)

Training your brain to always look for what is right becomes exceedingly beneficial. From a health standpoint, you can lower your blood pressure, boost your immune system, and increase your lifespan. [i] From a spiritual view, it allows you to look for God in every situation. You grow closer to Christ because you start to see Him at work even in the most horrific circumstances.

A New Perspective

The world isn’t as black and white as we’d like it to be. Sometimes the grey in the middle makes it difficult to determine whether our plans or the actions of others are right or wrong. That’s when a constant connection to Christ proves invaluable. He has the truth, and He tells us when it’s time to share it.  

Solomon asked God for “a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”  (1 Kings 3:9)  He realized the only way to be a truly noble king was to have a heart that continually searches for God’s wisdom.

Meditating on what is right means balancing truth and love. When we speak the “truth in love,” rather than just sharing unwanted truth, we grow and mature and become strong in the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 13:6) Acting nobly and right involves listening to Jesus so we can discern the whole truth and move forward in a way that honors God.

It will take practice to find the right in every situation, but when we add right to truth and nobility, we’ll find it easier to renew our minds and see every other whatsoever is.

If you’re wondering how to know God’s will, try focusing on Philippians 4:8.

This is a snippet from one of the chapters of Whatsoever Is . . .

Available here or on Amazon.

[i] Mayo Clinic Staff, “Positive Thinking: Stop Negative Self-Talk to Reduce Stress,” Mayo Clinic, last modified November 21, 2023, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/positive-thinking/art-20043950.