Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 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. Philippians 4:8

I study piano with another teacher, sharpening my skills and learning new repertoire, which I then pass on to my own students. At my last lesson, halfway through my piece I hit a badly discordant note and stopped playing. My teacher said, “ Don’t worry about that wrong note, just think how many right notes you played before you got there!” Right away the Holy Spirit brought to my mind a picture of my spiritual life. What do I do when I discover a fault or commit a sin? Do I let it defeat me or do I think about what God has done thus far in helping me to become more like Jesus? While practicing my piano piece I zero in on the difficult area and work on it till it’s corrected. However, before the correction is complete I go back and play the whole piece to hear all the beautiful right notes again. I do this in my relationship with Jesus, too. He wants me to let Him change me, and we work on that pretty consistently. He also constantly reassures me of His love and reminds me of the glorious plan He has for me to dwell with Him for eternity. He shows me the big picture. We must have this attitude in our relationships with others, too. We see their faults and may have to address them, but we see the talents, gifts, and Godly characteristics that are within. We love them as God loves us.

During a time of fellowship at the T-shirt shop we were discussing a certain aspect of our growth in obedience to the Word. One friend said that even though he knows he has a long way to go to reach his goal to become more Christ like, he was encouraged when he looked back and saw how far he’s come since he’s been a Christian. His focus was on the “right notes” he’s played. That’s what I believe the verse above is telling us. Let’s not get discouraged by our ‘wrong notes” and park there. Let’s go forward and dwell on the goodness of God and His wonderful plan for our lives.