One Mind part 5
To end this Rant series I want to connect the two verses that I think speak most about the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ." I think that's so important. So important. Because people always want to talk about how "The Lord works in mysterious ways." Which I can actually get behind, because I believe God works through people. And people are mysterious. Life's a mystery. It very rarely makes sense. It very rarely goes the way we think it should. But the point I'm trying to make with this first verse is that we HAVE the mind of Christ. Its not something we need. He already gave it to us. When He gave us His Son, His heart, His Spirit, Himself. So when we look at the second verse, Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," we have to look at it from that perspective. From the truth that we are not letting something "come" into us. Its already in us. We already have it. We're letting it BE in us. We're letting what's already true about us BE true about us, by knowing and believing it. Because you can't believe something you don't know. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God. So stop trying to "fake it 'til you make it." And, by the way, real quick, I don't think its "fake" to be nice to people you don't like. I think its mature. Like I always tell my seven year old, "Feel what you feel, but don't let it control you." We can be kind to people no matter what. We can love people no matter what. And we should. Because that's what's in the mind of Christ. That's ALL that's in the mind of Christ. Love, love, love. What else could the God who is love think about? What else WOULD He think about? Because He is mindful of men. Of us. His mind of full of... us. Think about the people you love most in this world. You probably already were thinking about them. Because that's what we do--we think about the people (and things) that are important to us. Where we get twisted around is when we spend too much time, attention, and effort on the things that aren't important. When we make mountains out of molehills and dwell on those things that are not good, and lovely, and peaceful. And we end up robbing ourselves of that peace. That goodness. That loveliness. When all we have to do is bring our thoughts under captivity to God. By letting the mind of Christ--that's already in us--BE in us. By USING the mind of Christ. Not trying to think God's thoughts, but just letting Him think His own thought (singular, love) in us, and as us, and through us. We make loving people so much harder than it really is because we make people need to deserve it. Guys. Deserve's got nothing to do with it. Or, in another way, we all deserve it. Simply by being humans. So stop making people jump through hoops. Stop making people fit in boxes. Let them be who they are. And love them anyway. Because that's who YOU really are. You are loved. That's what the mind of Christ reveals. And because you are loved... you can love. We love because He first loved us. Its in there. Let it BE in there, and let it come out! With every move you make. And every thought you take!