One Mind. One Accord.

“For,“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 2:16.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Charles Dickens timeless observation from his book, A Tale of Two Cities, is strangely apropos for us today. Hurricane Michael and the devastation this category 4 storm has brought to our communities made this year the worst of times for many people.  But everyday you see people responding selflessly and compassionately and with great generosity to help family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. It that way, it is the best of times.

Whether you view this as the best or worse of times, or both, our mission as followers of Jesus has not changed. We still seek to be more like Jesus and to be holy as He is holy. Once we accept Jesus as Savior we embark on a never-ending quest to become more like Him. God continuously works within us and transforms us, continually renewing and reshaping us to “…have the mind of Christ.”

The mind of Christ refers to thinking in a way that is consistent with how Jesus thinks. This is sometimes reflected in the phrase WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? This refers to the process of thinking how Jesus might act in a given situation and doing it. This requires the person that is considering this to be able to think like Jesus or have the mind of Christ to accomplish this. There are innumerable benefits to having the mind of Christ. It would be amazing, but it sounds not only improbable, but impossible for “average Joe” Christian to have the mind of Christ. First of all, what does it mean and how can I possibly get there? The simple answer is having the mind of Christ means we look at life from our Savior’s point of view, His values are our values, It means we think God’s thoughts.

In 1 Corinthians 2:10-16, Paul gives us some additional explanation. In this passage, Paul is saying that no one knows my thoughts other than myself. In much the same way, only God can know his thoughts. But since the Holy Spirit is God, He knows the thoughts of God. And since God has given us His Spirit, we too can know God’s thoughts. Paul summarizes this passage with a bold statement, “we have the mind of Christ.”

The reason God wants us to be able to know His thoughts and think like Christ is so we can be more like Him. To have the mind of Christ, we must first learn to think as He thinks and then think as He thinks. If you have the mind of Christ, worry will be offset by trust, anger and bitterness by love, and fear by faith. Having the mind of Christ means we live a life of peace, enjoy great relationships, experience real joy and have the ability to become all God has created us to be. 

Try to pause during the day or when faced with decisions and reflect on what God’s word says on the subject, and how He wants you to live and behave. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you at that moment to have the mind of Christ.

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think it means to “have the mind of Christ?” Do you think it’s possible to think of things like God does?
2. What can we do this week to have the mind of Christ?