Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Putting on the Mind of Christ

When Jesus calls me to follow him, he expects me to begin thinking like him. But how can I know the mind of Christ? This is not as impossible as it may sound. The apostle Paul tells is that once we have become involved with the life of Christ, we are given the mind of Christ. In I Corinthians 2:16, the Apostle says, “Who knows the mind of the Lord? Who is able to give him advice?’ We, however, [already] have the mind of Christ”.  

How do we gain access to this “mind?” We find the mind of Christ as we mediate upon and pray with the Scriptures and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. After all, Jesus promised us that the Spirit would guide us into all truth (see John 16:13). Imagine discipleship as a real, physical journey. The more time we spend walking with Jesus – day after day – the more we will begin to understand his way of thinking.

As we walk and talk with him day in and day out, we become more intimate with what he may like and dislike – just like we would do with any traveling companion. We see what he sees and hear what he hears. We grow in an understanding of what he cares about and what he considers insignificant, petty, or distracting. While walking with Jesus (again day after day) we will see how he may respond to problems, criticism, exhaustion, expectations, disappointments, hunger, love, laughter, accusations, sorrow, sin, rejection, legalism, religion, hypocrisy, happiness, joy, and we learn what he thinks about our future. In other words, we begin to see our world from God’s perspective. 

Take the example of the Apostle Peter in the New Testament. As he follows Jesus, he gradually submits his mind to the Father and that changes, not only the way he thinks, but also his perspective. He begins to see things as they appear inside the kingdom of heaven. In other words, Peter begins to clearly see reality and he is able to see that Jesus is the Messiah. Perhaps this is the reason Jesus says to him, “Truly this did not come to you from any human being, but was given to you directly by my Father in heaven” (see Matthew 16:17).

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