It’s episode 83 of the Busy Christian Mom podcast, and we are in our Anchored Attitude mini series. These 9 episodes will walk you scripture memorization strategies of specific bible verses that will help you anchor your attitude, mindset, and effort on Christ. Today, we’re walking through how to memorize Philippians 4:8.
CLICK PLAY TO LISTEN: EP 83
Review
The 9 episodes in this mini series are broken down into three sections, each with three verses (attitude, mindset, effort). We are on the second of three bible verses specifically addressing attitude:
- EP 78: Philippians 2:14 (attitude) “Do everything without complaining and arguing.”
- EP 79: Romans 12:12 (attitude) “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”
- EP 80: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (attitude) “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
- EP 81: 2 Timothy 1:7 (mindset) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
- EP 82: 2 Corinthians 10:5 (mindset) “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
- EP 83: Philippians 4:8 (mindset) featured today
Verse
A little background to today’s scripture. Last week, we discussed a verse that is near and dear to my heart, and it got me through some though times. Another set of verses that has helped my mindset tremendously is Philippians 4:6-8. We’re memorizing Philippians 4:8 today, and if you want bonus points, add verses 6 & 7. It’s absolutely powerful.
I’ll read Philippians 4:8 in the NLT, and you can follow along in your free workbook, or on the show notes that are linked where you’re listening.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Philippians 4:8
Last week we talked about capturing thoughts, and this week we’re answering the question, “Well then, Brooke, what do we think about instead of the toxic thoughts?”. Hooray! More on this part in in the Live It Out section here in a few minutes.
Verse Context Breakdown
Before we talk about how to memorize Philippians 4:8 in a few minutes, let put some context around this scripture. Here are some quick facts about the book of Philippians and what we’re memorizing:
- Paul wrote this letter to the church at Philippi while he was in prison
- This overarching theme talks about the Messiah and how we can live out our faith
- The church at Philippi was the first church Paul started
- There was plenty of persecution, yet the Christians remained faithful
If you’re looking for a practical verse to help you with your mindset, this is a wonderful one! The chapter breakdown in the Bible for this particular section is titled “Words of Encouragement”. I know I could always use some encouragement!
Memorize Verse
It’s time to practice how to memorize Philippians 4:8! Remember that you have this episode, episode 24, and the free workbook that goes along with this Anchored Attitude mini series. If you don’t have your free workbook yet, head to brookecollier.com, enter your email where prompted, and then check your inbox/spam/junk/promotions in your email. I’ll send you a freebie right then, and then send the freeworkbook on Monday. Did I mention it’s free?
Here’s the verse again so it’s fresh in our brains: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Let’s look at the breakdown. There are two parts: Paul saying he has one final piece of advice. Then, he gives the advice.
- “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.”
- “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Strategy Technique
We’re going to break down the learning in two parts and utilize two different memorization strategies. We’ll memorize the first part first, and then the second part second, naturally. We’re going to use the rote memory technique for the first part. This is a method where you repeat it over and over until it’s memorized. Just like you do with music lyrics.
ROTE MEMORY
While you’re doing this portion of memorization, think about Paul writing to the church in Philippi that he cares deeply for. I’ll say the line, then you say the line. We’ll repeat this five times, but you can hit the rewind 30 second button as many times as you want. Ready? “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.”
ACRONYMS
Onto the second half. It’s a bit longer, but you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Shout out Philippians 4:13 a little bit later in this chapter in the Bible. Here’s the second part of the verse: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
- True
- Honorable
- Right
- Pure
- Lovely
- Admirable
- Excellent
- Worthy of Praise
At first, I thought we could get weird and goofy like when we had to memorize PEMDAS please excuse my dear Aunt Sally. Or, when we memorized the order of the planets My dear very educated mother just served us nine pizzas (except now Pluto isn’t technically a planet.
I thought about these acronyms when trying to remember: true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. I came up with: tiny hippos really play loudly and eat wheels of parmesan. Then out came this one: tacos have real pico lettuce and exist with our pallets. And then I thought, “Now, Brooke, can we tie this back into the Bible. Come on..hippos eating parmesan? You know they eat greens. Tasty tacos? Now we’re all hungry!”
THRPLAEWoP
So, I thought some more about tying it back to scripture, and how it will help us with the context and verse references as well. I finally landed on this acronym phrase: Think how real Paul loves and encourages witnesses of Philippi.
Paul wrote this encouraging letter to the Philippians that he knows and loves. They’re facing persecution, and think how hard it must be to have that internal, eternal mindset on what we should be focusing our thoughts on. The church at Philippi kept witnessing, even though they faced hardship because they were spreading the good news of the gospel.
Paul was pouring his heart into what is now the book of Philippians. God breathed these words out to us so we can take his advice. Think how real Paul loves and encourages witnesses of Philippi. Here’s our acronym broken down so we can continue how to memorize Philippians 4:8:
- True= think
- Honorable= how
- Right= real
- Pure= Paul
- Lovely= Loves
- Admirable= and
- Excellent= Encourages
- Worthy of Praise= Witnesses of Philippi
Think how real Paul loves and encourages witnesses of Philippi. True, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise. That’s the good stuff we should be thinking about.
Here’s the whole verse again and then the memorization strategies: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Put It Together
Remember that you can rewind as much as your brain needs. Memorizing scripture is one of the best things you can do for your soul.
- Rote Memorization: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.”
- Acronym: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Also, if you’d rather use the hippo or taco acronym, go for it! All brains work differently to achieve the same task. Yay for us!
4:8
Now to memorize Philippians 4:8 scripture reference. When we remember the acronym “think how real Paul loves and encoruages witnesses of Philippi”, we can remember that this is found int he book of Philippians.
If we count up what we’re trying to remember, there are 8 types of things we should be thinking about on a consistent basis to help our mindset. “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Since the whole verse is broken into two parts, 8 things divided by 2 parts equals 4. Philippians 4:8.
Live It Out
Now that we know how to memorize Philippians 4:8, let’s discuss how we’ll live it out! For funsies, let’s say the verse together: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
When it comes to mindset, once we recognize and capture toxic thoughts (shout out last week), we can then train our brains to think about the good stuff; the 8 things Philippians 4:8 talks about. Here’s what this can look like once a toxic thought is captured, or if someone says something that just makes you want to shut their face:
- 1) Capture: Thought or words towards you that make you feel ick (reference episode 82 for more help
- 2) Claim: Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Capture the toxic thought. Claim the good things. We are specifically talking headspace today, and some of us are letting negativity take up mental real estate. Stop that silliness. When you’re feeling blah, check those thoughts, and claim the territory of your mind.
My Example
I find this scripture particularly helpful when a past hurt creeps back into my mind. Have I worked through the past? Yes, but remember satan is trying to throw those spaghetti noodle toxic thoughts to see what sticks. Here’s how the conversation in my head goes:
- Past thought creeps in: “Hi, remember me? What if that happened again? How would that go for you?”
- I recognize the thought and capture it: “What are you doing, toxic thought? I have worked through you, so I know this is satan being the desperate little whiney he is. Not today, fool.”
- Think about the good stuff: “God is worthy of praise because I am still standing and chasing after Jesus. God is good and he has pick me up out of that grave, and I know who I am. I am the daughter of the King. I am chosen, forgiven, redeemed. I am loved, and I belong. I am bold, brave, and strong. I am seen I’m accepted. I am able. I’m protected. Through Him I can do anything because I’m the daughter of the King.”
- Mic drop
With practice, it can be this simple. Are some days harder than others? Absolutely. When I’m running on a couple hours of sleep, swamped with work, or I’m in a funk, I’m reminded that I need to be on the lookout. Pro tip: Give yourself grace.
There’s been plenty of times when I let a thought go unchecked, or go too long without thinking about the good stuff. Pause, take a deep breath, capture the thought, and think on the good things. When you memorize Philippians 4:8, you’re setting yourself up for success.
Podcast Recap
Wow, you are on a roll! You’re several verses memorized so far in this Anchored Attitude mini series! I’m so proud of you! If you’ve forgotten the scriptures along the way, or just joining, head to episode 78. You’ve learned how to memorize Philippians 4:8, so let’s say it together one more time today:
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Philippians 4:8
Tune in next week to hear our third verse specifically discussing mindset. Remember to grab your free workbook by joining the BCM Insiders weekly email by going to brookecollier.com and entering your email. Friends don’t let friends study scripture alone! Bring a mom friend and tell this about this show. See you next week!
Links from the Show
- Anchored Attitude Mini Series
- EP 24: Tips to Memorize Scripture
- Etsy Shop: Busy Christian Mom
- Busy Christian Mom Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
- Pinterest: Brooke Collier BCM
- Busy Christian Mom Instagram
