Three Ways to Think Like Christ

Mike Hosey, Elder

There's really no doubt that our lives are governed mostly by how we think and what we believe.  For instance, if we think something to be true, we will act on that something. After all, you won't continue to work for your boss if you think your boss doesn't intend to keep paying you -- unless  you think working for your boss for free will give you some greater gain down the road, or unless you think working for free is the right thing to do. Regardless of your choice, your actions will be based on what you think and believe. Even when our lives seem to be governed by our emotions, those emotions must gain the consent of our thinking. Think about it (no pun intended), how often do we try to gain the consent of our thinking simply to make ourselves feel better about an emotional choice we'd like to make?  We call that process "rationalization," and it looks something like this, "You are just trying to rationalize you're emotional desire to visit your ex-girlfriend."  Such a process can be quite dangerous.  It is important, therefore, that our thinking be right if we want our lives to be right. It's a psychological truth that when our thinking is truly right, our emotions will often fall in line!

Our thinking should be just like the thinking of Jesus. In fact, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that believers have the mind of Christ. So how do we get the mind of Christ?

By Filosofias filosoficas (Own work)

1). You must be a believer who has submitted your life to Jesus. You can't have the mind of Christ unless you belong to His body. Every part of a body has some kind of access to the head. Paul doesn't say everyone has the mind of Christ. He only says believers do.

2). You must recognize that the mind of Christ and the mind of the world oppose one another. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:5-6 that the wisdom of Christ is NOT the wisdom of men.  And he tells us in Romans 12:1-2 not to conform our thinking to the ways of the world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

3). We must not be double minded. James 1:5-8 tells us that wavering between the mind of the world and the mind of Christ makes us unstable. We must keep our mind focused on what God wants us to do. Read the story of Satan tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11) and ask yourself how things might be different if Jesus had been double minded.