Our Minds

There are two scriptures that talk about the mind of Christ. And they have a direct bearing on our mind.

“We have the mind of Christ,” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
“Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)

It is sometimes hard for us to agree that we have the mind of Christ. It seems more like a lofty goal, than an accomplished fact. However, if we are born again, we do have access to the mind of Christ within us. God says in Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 10:16, “This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” If God has put His law (His words) in our minds, then we do have the mind of Christ. God has given it to us. Therefore, we can choose to let His mind work in us. Not only that, we have the Holy Spirit in us to remind us of God’s Word, and to reveal it to us. (John 14:16-26)

“God has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7) God has given us a sound mind! The NIV calls it “self-discipline”. The literal meaning of sound mind means “safe-thinking”. A sound mind is able to think right, has the wisdom to make good judgments and right decisions. It has the ability to exercise self control, and to discipline its thoughts and thought patterns. This is the mind that God has given us! It sounds a lot like the mind of Christ, or God’s mind, doesn’t it?

There are many other scriptures that talk about our minds. They give us instruction about how to enter into God’s higher realm of thought. They show us a higher way to live our lives. It is a better way, God’s way. Colossians 3:1-2 says, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek (set your hearts on) those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Here we are actually told to set our minds up there with God’s thoughts and to seek the things above. When we take heed, or pay attention to His words, we can learn how to walk and live in the Spirit, in the Kingdom of God. We do this by meditating on His Words, and by letting His Words “dwell in us richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:16)

Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-39, “Love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” How do we love God with all our mind? By putting His Word in our minds. By thinking and meditating on His Word until we truly know Him, know His heart, know His love for us and His love for all other people. By putting His Word in our minds until our minds are saturated with His Word, and our hearts are truly beating in sync with His, until we are expressing His love back to Him and to other people.

Jesus also said in 6: 22, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.” Two thoughts come to my mind. One is that our eyes should be focused on God, and we do that by reading His Word. The other is that we talk about seeing with or in our mind’s eye. When I see into the Kingdom, or see spiritual things, I generally see in words by way of the thoughts that come to my mind from God. This is how I see with my mind’s eye. And when I share the things God has shown me with others by speaking or writing, I share by using words. But they were originally thoughts in my mind.

Our minds are created in God’s image! They absorb and process amazing amounts of data. We talk about “inquiring minds want to know”. If we inquire of God about His Word, He will explain His Word and reveal His mind in us. Imagine the amount of God’s Word Data we can absorb and process in our minds.