Chapter 4 Insights

I missed hearing from quite a few of you this week - thanks to those who wrote in!  You can send your entries in late - I'll add them in, or just get started on next weeks....

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What stood out to me most about this chapter is that when our thoughts have the quality that is honest.  (Thinking about others before self.)  When we are thinking on honest things then we are thinking about others and that will attract and invite others to seek the Lord.  Self-denial is what is repeated throughout this chapter.  Our thoughts are not honest if we are not denying self. Romans 12:10 "Be kindly affectioned one  to another with brotherly love in honor preferring one another."

Jesus has done the most noble/honest thing in dieing for us on the cross and making a way for us.   The last paragraph on page 43 sums  it up for me "Surely there is no example more noble and more honorable that the sovereign God sending His son to die for me.  I was spiritually blind and He gave me sight.  I was morally diseased and He brought me healing.  I was lame and He taught me to walk.  I was hungry and thirsty and He gave me eternal food and drink.  And all of this He did by grace, mercy, kindness and compassion. Praise the Lord.  Helen Keller's quote is good too.  To be humble.

 Cathy

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The idea of choosing noble thoughts makes me think of my favorite educational "mentor" Charlotte Mason who taught that one of the goals of education was to give children noble things to think about.  Choosing books carefully for our children to read that will foster noble thoughts has been one of my goals. 

Being a book-lover I have found much inspiration to noble thoughts through wonderful books.  But the flip side is that I must choose to reject thoughts that are NOT noble.  Some things may be true, but are they noble, too?

I like this sentence from page 42, "Noble thoughts are beautiful because they are so rare and so wholesome."  and the quote by Alan Loy McGinnis, "There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being--to help someone succeed."  My dad modeled this so beautifully.  He got to know people and their heart goals and ministry gifts and then did what he could to help them along in these things, quietly, behind the scenes equipping and helping others to succeed for the good of the Kingdom and the glory of God. 

"A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself." - Henry Ward Beecher

 Patti

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These two quotes really stuck out to me:
"The noble man makes noble plans and by noble deeds he stands." -First he is noble, then he plans nobly, then his deeds prove his inward quality...
"Every noble crown is, and on earth will forever be, a crown of thorns." -Just like Christ!

Cherish

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Define Noble:  Honest, honorable, grave in the sense of serious and important; an honor that can stand the test of eternity; being awe inspiring in a way that invites and attracts.

Dict.: Having high moral principles and ideals.  Synonyms-righteous, virtuous, good, honorable, upright, decent, worthy, moral, ethical

Why are truly noble thoughts so rare? (p. 38)  They are rare because they always involve self-denial and we tend to look out for our own interests.  It isn’t possible to be noble without thinking of God and others first.

Read the stories of the two biblical examples and describe how each lived out this character quality:

Joseph (Jacob’s son) Genesis 39

Joseph was noble as Potiphar’s servant, upright and ethical in the management of his master’s affairs, bringing about God’s blessing.  When Potiphar’s wife propositioned him, he tried to reason with her.  His explanation was noble; he told her that his master trusted him with everything in his entire household and had held back nothing except his wife.  He told her he could never do such a wicked thing because it would be a great sin against God.  It’s interesting that he tried to appeal to her sense of virtue.  Apparently she didn’t live by the same moral code.

Q:  Does God want us to try and explain the reasons we don’t take part in certain activities as a way of being a testimony for him?  How do we do that without sounding self-righteous?

Potiphar’s wife kept pursuing Joseph day after day, and he tried to stay out of her way as much as possible as he went about his work.  Even when she grabbed him and demanded that he sleep with her, he chose the moral high ground and ran to escape her.   

Q:  When confronted with temptation, what are some ways of escape?     I Corinthians 10:13

Even though Joseph did everything that was noble in this situation, he still paid the price for someone else’s sin.  

Q:  How do we act when we pay the price for the wrong choices of another?  What  kind of response would show we are developing noble character?

Joseph continued to hold up his head and persevere even in prison where he found favor with the jailer and was put in a position of authority and responsibility.  Most people’s tendency would be to grow bitter or give up, but Joseph continued to be faithful to God and rose above his circumstances.  He was truly a man of noble character, consistently living in a way that brought honor to God.

Joseph (Mary’s husband) Matthew 1:18-25

Joseph was engaged to Mary; he found out she was pregnant and since he hadn’t slept with her, he must have assumed that another man had.  He could have publicly disgraced her, but instead he planned to break the engagement quietly.  The passage calls him a just man.  When the angel appeared to him, and told him that the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Joseph believed and took Mary as his wife.  He didn’t sleep with her until after Jesus was born.  These were selfless acts that put the will of God above his own.

Matthew 2:13-15  Joseph took his family to a foreign land at God’s command to protect Jesus from Herod. When they were able to return he couldn’t settle back in Bethlehem  because Herod’s son was a threat to Jesus’ safety, so he took his family to Nazareth.  We don’t think about the personal cost to Joseph, but he gave up living in the city of his ancestry, lived in exile, and had to start over in a new town.  He was noble in his self-sacrifice.

The author encourages us to have a gallery of noble thoughts and deeds as examples to us.  He gives us two such examples in his stories of  Petty Officer Clark and Jim & Elisabeth Elliot.  Who has inspired you and deserves a place in your Noble Gallery?  Explain.

If being selfless makes one noble, then my dad was a wonderful example.  He was always thinking of others and putting others’ interests first.  He was such a godly man, living to honor God.  I witnessed many times how he sought to do the right thing even when it wasn’t the easy thing.

Who is our ultimate example of noble deeds?   Do you have a verse or passage that best represents this for you? Jesus Christ is our ultimate example.  His self-sacrifice and servant attitude show us how to be noble.  He lived that way on earth and ultimately died on the cross to selflessly redeem us.  His thoughts were fixed on the will of His Father and motivated Him to follow through with His plan to be the ultimate sacrifice for mankind.

Philippians 2:7, 8

Read the verses and quotes on pp. 128, 129.   Comment on one or two that are meaningful to you.

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.”  Romans 12;10

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.”  --Helen Keller

What adjustments will you make in your thinking to become more noble?

Serve others without any expectation of recognition; look for ways to bless the lives of others.  Appreciate the sacrifices of others.

Jenn