Whatsoever is … lovely
I confess I find this word in Paul’s list to be the least connected to all the others in Philippians 4:8.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (ASV, emphasis added)
Not that I don’t like lovely (/ˈləvlē/, mind you. I sure do. It’s just that when I hear the word, I always think of something pretty, or aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Occasionally, I hear it used to describe a particularly charming or kind woman, as well. And my definition isn’t too far off of Merriam-Webster’s:
attractive or beautiful especially in a graceful way; very good or likable; very pleasing.
It’s quite possible that Paul meant to draw our attention to the visible beauty of God’s creation around us. But I also looked at the original Greek word (prosphilēs), and its two root words (pros and phileō). The former (pros) is a preposition usually meaning at, near, by, to or to the advantage of. The latter (phileō) is the word used for love, friendship, affection, and fondness. Every Bible translation I checked rendered the word “lovely” but I can’t help wondering if reducing this word to mean simply that which is aesthetically beautiful or attractive (by our English usage) isn’t doing it an injustice. I wonder if it could mean “to love” or “near love” or “to the advantage of love”… which, in my mind could be stated as loving. This makes it more of an action or behavior, which I find consistent with the others words in Paul’s list.
In going about my day, I tried to train my eyes on things that were loving not just pretty or pleasing to the eye. I saw surprisingly many examples. A few for illustration:
- A daddy, walking his son home from school, carrying a child-sized backpack on his shoulder as they went.
- A woman who championed a session of prayer and anointing over her friend recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
- My daughter’s unsolicited artistic (drawn) expressions of love for both me and her father. (Lovely both visually and in action.)
In a day and age when we easily find ourselves fearful or cynical about the way mankind treats one another, fixing our gaze on things that are loving or lovely does restore some hope and optimism. Delighting in these simple things did that for my pessimistic bent today. I hope it does yours, as well.
Got anything to add to the list? What loving or lovely thing do you think on?
This post is part of a 31 day series entitled “Think on these things: Learning optimism.” For a full catalog of all the posts, visit the first page in the series by clicking here.