How Joyful People ThinkSample

Limitless

When the apostle Paul, inspired by God, originally wrote Philippians 4:8, the word whatever was a common one in the Greco-Roman culture of the first century. It is the Greek word hosos (pronounced HAH-sahs), and the New Testament writers used it 115 times. The word also appears thousands of times in Greek literature from the ancient world.

Like a scratched CD stuck on the same phrase, the repetition of the word whatever catches our attention in this verse. By repeating this word, God makes his message clear: whatever is to be applied to each of the eight ways of thinking. 

What is most fascinating about this word is that it is a positive word—even an inspirational word—primarily used to describe the extent of something. One prominent Greek-English lexicon defines whatever as “as much as; as long as.” It is a word used to refer to limitless volume and extent. 

A pictorial example of this meaning emerges in the Gospel of John, where the writer used this word to describe the miracle of the feeding of five thousand people. He wrote, “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as [hosos] they wanted” (John 6:11, emphasis added). The people ate “as much as [whatever]” their hearts desired. A couple of fish miraculously multiplied to feed five thousand. The word used is hosos—a visionary word used to expand the possibilities and broaden the horizons. 

I believe Paul used this word the same way in Philippians 4:8. He prefaced each particular way of thinking with a resounding whatever to get us to dream about the possibilities this kind of thinking can have when applied to our lives. He challenges us to approach each God-ordained perspective with a Spirit-led creativity that conjure in our mind’s eye what these possibilities might look like as we learn to think along these lines. “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just . . . whatever . . . whatever . . . whatever.” He invites us to dream big on a personal level. Paul used the word whatever to show us how to turn a couple of fish into a full-course meal when it comes to how we think. 

How do you view Philippians 4:8 differently when you think of it as an invitation to dream?