The Thoughts We Think

" I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..."
                                                                                                                        ( Galatians 2:20)



     God created our brain to be a very powerful and complex organ.  It is the epicenter of our nervous system and the cerebral cortex, alone, contains between 15 and 33 billion neurons.  The brain exerts control over all our other organs, muscle activity, and the secretion of hormones.  It operates as a biological computer as it acquires information from the surrounding world, stores it, and processes it in a variety of ways.

     Researchers have studied the brain for centuries but still have many unanswered questions.  When the electronic computer was discovered in the 1940's, it brought enlightenment to the study of brain function through more understanding of electrical activity and information processing.  Despite decades of research and development in computer science, we still have no technology that rivals the ability and complexity of the human brain.  That is because the brain uniquely has the ability to: adapt to new and different situations,  undertake complex reasoning tasks, and to enable us to feel emotions.

     Our brains also differ from the animal kingdom in terms of how they work.  We understand morality and ethics in ways that animals could never  comprehend.  Perhaps, having been created in the image of God is more of a distinction in regards to our minds than even to our physical appearance.

     Thankfully, we have a Creator that understands the complexities found within our brains.  Not only that, but He also offers us solutions on how to win the battle over our minds.  When we achieve victory in our thinking, we can achieve victory in every aspect of our lives.

     There is a caveat.  This victory will never be achieved on our own.  When Jesus was crucified in a place called Gol'gotha ( Calvary), it literally means " the place of a skull".   Early writings suggest that this was a hill that resembled a skullcap located very close to the gate that entered Jerusalem.

     Symbolically, this is a picture of how Jesus triumphs over the carnal mind of man.  God showed abhorrence of sin by the sufferings of Jesus in the flesh so that believers might be pardoned and justified.  When we unite with Christ, by faith, we begin the transformation from carnality to spirituality in our thinking.  Some of us need a lot more transformation than others.

     Carnal minds desire to control.  Relinquishing this control requires persistence and abiding in Christ through prayer.  The book of Romans tells us that " the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace". ( Romans 8:6).

     We change from being hostile toward God to being fully submitted to Him.  Unfortunately, for many of us, this transformation requires much effort and time.  We often hold onto "old tapes" in our minds that replay without any effort whatsoever.  Our incentive to ultimately change becomes the awareness that we "cannot have a positive, exciting life AND a negative mind." ( Proverbs 23:7).

     Therefore, "we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ." ( 2 Corinthians 10:5).  This verse explains to us that human beings have a throne in their minds and that there is someone or something sitting upon it. When that someone or something is anything other than Christ,  it exists to oppose God and requires spiritual weaponry to bring it down.

     We cannot tame or re-train that which opposes God.  The truth is, our carnal mind must die and be replaced by a spiritual mind.  This includes our ways of controlling, our ways of thinking, and all knowledge that is opposed to God.  For most of us, it is an inaccurate belief system regarding who God is, or who we are in Christ.  Yet, we do have the ability to decide against some of our tendencies and for others.  It is all about making our thoughts serve us instead of mastering us.

     To do this, we have to become aware of each and every thought.  We have to pay attention.  Then we can make choices regarding our thoughts.  We take our thoughts to Christ so that He can shine His light upon them.  If they stand in opposition to Him or His Word, they must be nailed to the cross.  Each and every time.

     Our minds are like our bodies in that they need to be fed.  If we feed them junk food, they will not function properly.  It will impact our attitudes and behavior in a detrimental way and ultimately they will atrophy.

     An example of this has been studied.  A functional MRI can be used to evaluate what parts of the brain are doing when exposed to various situations and emotions.  Different areas of the brain will light up when a person experiences sadness, or joy, or anger.  When repeated episodes of violent images or music is introduced, it shuts down the part of the brain that feels compassion or empathy.

     For one whole year prior to the Columbine shootings, the two shooters played a violent video game named "Doom" everyday after school.  They customized their two characters to have unlimited weapons and ammunition.  All the other characters in the game were helpless and defenseless.  After one year, they acted out their wicked imaginations.  When our thoughts are out of sync with the truth, our actions will be too.

     Our minds need wholesome exercise- Scripture, noble literature, redeeming music, and works of art.  We are to nourish our mind, just as we are to nourish our body.  The apostle, Paul, admonishes us," I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious- thefts, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."  ( Philippians 4:8).

     A well-balanced mind is a mind that is under the control of the Holy Spirit.  The book of Colossians tells us to "set [our] mind on things above".  ( Colossians 3:2).  We can accomplish this through the practice of determining God's wisdom and direction by using a mind that is saturated in God's Word, instead of relying on emotional impressions.

     A faithful mind comes when we have single-hearted devotion to Christ.  It is a loyal mind, and not a duplicitous one.  This requires serious commitment.  As John the Baptist said, " He must increase and I must decrease."  ( John 3:29). And, as we allow God to truly increase in our lives, we begin to see Him for who He truly is.  C.H. Spurgeon said, "God is too good to be unkind.  He is too wise to be confused.  If I cannot trace His hand, I can always trust His heart."

     Our lives change for the better when our thinking does.  When we are transformed by the renewing of our mind, we will understand what " God's will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will."  ( Romans 12:2).  We then have the freedom to choose the way of Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit to help us live it out.


                                              " we have the mind of Christ"
                                                    (1 Corinthians 2:16b)