A Guarded Mind

Philippians 4:6-9

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, 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. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.

Be anxious about anything, is the same expression found in Matthew 6:25 “Take no thought for your life” Therefore the call was not to allow the difficulty in life to make you immobile. Paul met with difficulty when he was at Philippi. He was scourged (One meaning or translations of scourged actually means thorn in the side), he was afflicted and put into stocks (Acts 16:23-24), yet he did not let this change his thinking on the positive things that could come from Philippi. The beginning of the church was very small there. Lydia was converted there, and the jailer and a few more but that did not discourage him. He continued to have a mind fix on the good things, therefore he had a guarded mind. Therefore he could speak to the people about what it meant to have a guarded mind.