“I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind.” Romans 7:23
“God will not release us from anything that has enslaved us until we’ve come to the mind of Christ in the matter.
Take the bondage of unforgiveness, for example. When we want to be free from the burden of not forgiving, we want God simply to take that person out of our minds. We want Him to wave a magic wand so we’ll never have to think about that person again.”
By Beth Moore in “Breaking Free Day by Day” (Devotional)
I have found this to be true in my life. There have been people that I wish I could just forget them and the hurt that they have caused me. But that is not God’s way.
“Who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16
What does that mean to have the mind of Christ. Surely as this verse points out we are not in a position to instruct God. So what does it mean? It means that we now have a choice to make to think in our old fleshly way or to think as Christ would have us think.
Let me give you an example. When my marriage fell apart, I was hurt, angry and depressed. My husband had walked away from our vows and no number of therapists were going to get him to return. Neither was any number of self-help books or my coaxing would change his desire to turn his back first on God and then on me. I’m not saying I didn’t play a part in all of it. I had put my husband in front of God. Mistakenly thinking that I was being Biblically submissive. I was gravely mistaken and now know that I had put my husband in the position of an idol. Nothing comes before my relationship with God. I’ve heard said, “That a woman’s heart should be so close to God that a man would have to go to God to find her.” I just love that!
Anyway I needed to forgive my ex-husband and the flesh, angry and hurt by his decision wanted nothing to do with forgiveness. Yes I would wish that God would make him just vacate my mind so I wouldn’t feel this pain anymore. But that is not how God works. In time the Holy Spirit did a work in my life and I came to realize that to turn his back on God he must be hurting somewhere. You see I started to think with the mind of Christ instead of the flesh. It got to the point that even after the divorce I found myself praying for him. He is hurting and he is lost and it is my fervent prayer that he returns to God. That is the mind of Christ, caring for someone that may be undeserving of your caring but then, we are all undeserving of God’s caring.
As Beth Moore puts it, we think in two different mental languages one is of the flesh and one the mind of Christ (Paraphrased). God gives us a choice on which language to think in but with that choice comes consequences. Which ever language you choose the flesh or Christ that is the language you will become fluent in. I choose to practice the mind of Christ more and do all I can to put to death the flesh. What do you choose?
Joy – A Woman After God’s Own Heart
Joy's Words of Encouragement 