Hi friends, today we will discuss the mind of Christ. How can we possibly be like Jesus, and have the mind of Jesus? Are we able to have the mind of Jesus? Are we able to be perfect like Jesus?
The text comes to us from Philippians 2:5
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Paul admonishes or advises us to take on Jesus’ character. We are to take on the Mind of Jesus. But what is the mind? Is it thought? Is it the way we perceive things? The birthplace of character formation? There are many aspects of what makes up the mind. You see, the mind is an important aspect to us being Christians. We perform reasoning in our mind, we initiate will power from our minds. We evoke feelings from our minds, we know to do right and wrong because of what is in our minds, in essence our mind is a breathing ground for who we are. What we put in it, is as important as what we keep out.
When Jesus walked this earth, He kept a close connection with God His father in an effort to fill His mind with things of heaven and not of things of this earth. He sought to stay connected with God because this was the source of His strength (Psalm 121). Christ kept His days in earnest prayer, He fasted often, and His words and thoughts were always uplifting and things pertaining to God.
As Christians, it is imperative that we focus on Jesus. If we slip and begin to find pleasures in this world, we make ourselves the enemy of God (“You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God.” – James 4:4, AMP). This means, whatever things we do, whatever things we say, whatever things we think, must always reflect Jesus (see Philippians 4:8).
Jesus loves us and died for us all. He came here as an example for us. From keeping the Sabbath holy, ministering to those around Him, teaching us how to praise God, how to pray, all these things were examples for us. We will only be able to take on the mind of Jesus, when we allow the Holy Spirit to take over our lives and lead us. When we truly seek after Christ and allow Him to be our all in all, we can take on His character and take on His mind (that is, His thoughts, His actions, His lifestyle). I pray we’ll all allow ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and take on the mind of Jesus, so others will not see us, but see Jesus in us.
