Have The Mind Of Christ

 

Paul writes in Philippians 2:16 that we are to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. He repeats this in 1 Corinthians 2:16, saying, “We have the mind of Christ.”

So, what does it mean to have the mind of Christ? Or to have a mindset like His? I don’t claim to know exactly how Jesus thought, but I can describe who He was.

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus describes Himself as “gentle and lowly in heart” (ESV). Jesus was humble and not self-important. He knew who He was and didn’t feel the need to prove Himself.

Consider the story in John chapter seven. Jesus’ brothers wanted Him to prove Himself by going to the Feast of Booths, but He refused. I don’t think Jesus was trying to show off or impress others.

Similarly, in Matthew 4, the devil tempted Jesus in the desert. The devil tried to make Jesus doubt or question God, but Jesus didn’t fall for it. Instead, He quoted Scripture every time to counter the devil’s lies.

Jesus made Himself of no reputation. He became a servant of all and chose to live as one of us, except without sin. He chose humility and sacrifice, and this is what I want to emulate in my own life.

But what would it look like to think as Jesus thinks? 

I know my mind is easily distracted. I often replay scenarios that may or may not happen and dwell on things that are long past. I can sometimes be overwhelmed with “what if’s.”

I want to work on developing a mindset like Jesus’s. I want to be more focused, less distracted, and more present in the moment. I want to be more humble and less self-important. I want to be more like Jesus. 

But what about Jesus? What were His thoughts? What were His first thoughts in the morning or when He slept at night? Were His only thoughts on how He could glorify His Father that particular day? How could He fulfill God’s will? Was He always thinking about how He could meet others’ needs?

I found this verse in John 2:24, “But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.”(NIV)

Jesus knows our minds, our hearts. He understands how we think, how easily we can be swayed. We believe when everything is going great, but let one thing trip us up, and we question His love and care for us. He knows how easily we change our minds or how we can be led astray.

But not Jesus. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”(NIV)

He always has our best interest in mind. In fact, we are always on God’s mind! As Psalm 139:17-18 reminds us, “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”(NLT)

Oh, to think as Jesus thinks! To consistently lean on His mind, His way of seeing and doing things!

But I am after all human. Perhaps that’s why Paul reminds us, “…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”(Romans 12:2 NIV) Or Ephesians 4:23(NIV), “to be made new in the attitude of your minds;”. Paul also reminds us what we are to think about! See Philippians 4:8.

So, since we “have the mind of Christ,” perhaps these are ways we can learn to access it and think more and more like Jesus every day!