Are You a Lovely Person?
What does Philippians 4:8 mean when Paul says to dwell on what is lovely? There are several important things to note.
When I think of the word lovely, I don't think of it as a term I would ever use in daily conversation. Not once have I ever opened the front door, stepped into the sun, and exclaimed to my wife Janan, “My, what a lovely day today!” That’s just me.
But the more I think about Philippians 4:8, the more I think I should become more comfortable using this word. Here, Paul says, “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things.”
The Greek word Paul uses for lovely is prosphilēs, and it is used only once in the New Testament, making it a little jewel that needs careful attention. It is a love “pertaining to that which causes people to be pleased with something.”[1] The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) gives us a better picture. “In the story of Queen Esther’s encounter with the king, this word points to the beauty of Esther’s face.”[2] So this prosphilēs Paul means “causing pleasure or delight, pleasing, agreeable, and lovely.”[3]
In the ancient world, the idea of beauty and love were often tightly connected to virtue. To call something lovely was to say it possessed a kind of inner harmony that evoked admiration and affection. Paul's audience, many of whom would have been familiar with Greek philosophical traditions, would have caught that nuance. But Paul’s twist is profound: the lovely is not merely aesthetic; it must be ethically rooted. If it does not lead the heart toward God, if it does not stir the soul toward holiness, it is not truly lovely by this standard.
The Loveliest Person
In a theological sense, the ultimate lovely is Jesus himself. When Paul says to think about what is lovely, he is, at the deepest level, inviting believers to contemplate Christ and all reflections of Christlikeness wherever they are found. To this point, Jared Wilson writes,
Christ is the most lovely person of all others in the world. Do you desire one that can love you? None can love you like Christ: His love, my dear sisters, is incomprehensible; his love passeth all other loves: The love of the Lord Jesus is first, without beginning. His love is free without any motive. His love is great without any measure. His love is constant without any change and his love is everlasting.[4]
In a broken world, loveliness becomes an act of spiritual resistance. Cynicism, outrage, and ugliness come easily. The world is saturated with what is unlovely: cruelty, corruption, selfishness. To intentionally focus our minds on what is lovely is to choose against the current of sin and decay. It is to say that I will see and celebrate the goodness of God wherever it still shines. I will not be numbed into despair.
At the end of the day, Paul's charge is practical: train your heart to love what God loves. Think about what draws you toward Christ. In the words of Dane Ortlund, “Let the heart of Jesus be something that is not only gentle toward you but lovely to you.”[5] Fill your mind not with junk food for the soul but with the nourishment of beauty that births worship. In doing so, you not only protect your peace, but you reflect the very heart of the lovely one who is making all things new.
How Do I Be a Lovely Christian?
Only as your heart is filled with the loveliness of Christ can you be a lovely person to others. The late American writer Madeleine L’Engle was right when she said, “We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”[6]
So, what about you? Are you a lovely person to be around? Do people feel closer to Jesus after spending time with you? Are your friends more motivated to be with Jesus after having lunch with you? Are your spouse or kids more energized to be with God after they watch your behavior? Or, would others give you labels like "high performer," "busiest guy I know," or "a little standoffish"?
Because what we think about changes the way we behave, it’s critical to dwell on lovely thoughts. Certainly, this starts with Christ and dwelling on his beauty. From there, it’s a minute-by-minute decision to pull our minds away from negativity, anxiety, and fear to that which is lovely.
[1]L&N, s.v. “Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains,” paragraph 1.
[2]G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians, Pillar New Testament Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 298-299.
[3] Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., rev. and ed. by Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 886.
[4] Jared C. Wilson, The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group, 2017), 4.
[5] Dane C. Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 99.
[6] Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water (Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw, 1980), 122.
