Monitoring your mind (2)
2022-05-041 Corinthians 2:16 NIV
Did you know there’s a natural mindset and a spiritual mindset? If we want to live in a way that really honours and reflects God, we need to develop our spiritual mindset. The Bible says: ‘The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God… and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit… But we have the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:14, 16 NIV).
As we tune our lives to the pitch of God’s Word and consciously submit ourselves to His will every day, He’ll plant His thoughts in our minds. And that’s a massive advantage! For example, someone criticises you and your feelings get hurt. In that moment God speaks to you and says, ‘Yes, your feelings are hurt, but we can deal with that together. I love you, and the way I see you isn’t at risk. The person who criticised you might see a flaw, but you don’t have to pretend to be perfect or try to please others. I’ll help you use this experience as a chance to grow!’
Even though there are elements of pain in these kinds of thoughts, with God’s perspective they energise us rather than trapping us and bringing us down. They’re true, they give us something to stand firm on, and we realise that if we can keep our minds centred on them, the right feelings and actions are more likely to flow from them. We’ll start to live out the promise, ‘You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!’ (Isaiah 26:3 NLT). Instead of focusing on our critics, we should focus on God, on our spiritual growth, and on what we can learn from the experience.