Day Sixty-two

“But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16)

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:11–16; 3:1

Paul made a revolutionary—almost inconceivable—statement in his first letter to the Corinthians. He told them, “We have the mind of Christ.”

Interestingly, Paul was addressing worldly believers who refused to grow up. You see, the gift of the mind of Christ is given to every believer, regardless of whether or not we ever acknowledge or use it. When we received Christ, the Holy Spirit took up residence in our lives. He left no part of Himself behind. Remember, the Holy Spirit is a person. He moved in with invisible “feet” so He could direct us in our walk with God, with “hands” so He could slip them through ours and empower us to serve, with His heart so He could stir passion within us and equip us with supernatural love.

Contrary to some popular thinking, however, the Holy Spirit is not just a doing and feeling presence within us. He also provides the brains behind the operation. He moves in with the mind of Christ.

Those who have received Christ have the capacity to comprehend God’s truths. We have the ability to process information too complicated for the brightest intellectual. We possess an innate creativity beyond the most gifted artist. We have a potential for understanding beyond the wisest counselor. We have the mind of Christ.

We also continue to possess the mind of the flesh just as we still possess natural bodies though we’ve become spiritual creatures. We still possess our old ways of thinking. We are double-minded persons, challenged daily to choose which realm will prevail. One day we may think like Christ and the next like the old man of sin.

What are we to do? Verse 14 holds the key. The things of the Spirit provoke the thoughts of the Spirit. When we “accept the things that come from the Spirit of God,” we begin to discern truths beyond the natural mind. God’s Word, prayer, and godly people are things of the Spirit. They provoke thinking with the mind of Christ.

The more we partake of the things of the Spirit, the more we begin to think like the Spirit: loving what He loves, hating what He hates, grieving over what hurts Him, rejoicing over what thrills Him. Understanding will sometimes come to us without adequate words to express it—spiritual truths with no physical words. We feel differently because we think differently. These are evidences of the mind of Christ within us.

Beloved, fathom the miracle of it. We are finite beings of frail human flesh occupied by the Spirit of the supernatural, all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing Godhead. Inconceivable—unless you’re thinking with the mind of Christ.

Let’s begin asking God daily to quicken the mind of Christ in us so that, like the great apostle Paul, we can supernaturally understand “what God has freely given us.” Oh, how life will change.