Colossians 3:1-5 – “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”  NASB

The idea of salvation affecting the mind came up a few days ago in our consideration of this subject and I want to address that today.  If God’s Law is in our minds, then we will think God’s will.  His will becomes our thought process.  We will begin to evaluate life and make decisions based on the fact that the Law of God has been written in our minds and our hearts.

Therefore, if I am a Christian, then I am responsible for what I think about.  I am responsible for the thought processes in my head.  I want to lay to rest the contention that we are not responsible for the thoughts that come into our minds.  Let me address it this way and hopefully, it will have meaning and be enlightening.  If I am not responsible for my thoughts, then I am not responsible for what I do.  Why would I say that?  Because all my actions begin in my thoughts.  Most would insist, “That’s wrong, we are responsible for our actions.”  Okay, if I am responsible for my actions then I am also responsible for my thoughts because that is where the actions are birthed.

I am serious.  If we are not responsible for our thoughts where our actions begin, then we cannot possibly be held accountable for our actions.  I contend that we must be consistent and honest with the word and truth.  I have had people argue, “I could not help what I thought, it just came over me.”  I do not believe that and do not believe the Bible teaches it.  We are Christians and we know that actions do not just come over us.  We believe we are responsible for our actions and that we make choices in life, both good and bad.

Therefore, I contend that we also ‘choose’ the way we think.  That is the beginning of action.  Actions begin in our heads, not our emotions. They really do.  As a man thinks in his heart.  Jesus said, that “if I hate my brother, I have begun to commit murder in my heart.”  That is incredibly powerful and worthy of note.  The act of murder begins in the heart, in the thoughts of hate.

It begins in thoughts, then becomes words.  Words are our spirits coming out and being released into the atmosphere.  Therefore, if I have thoughts of hate, a ‘hate spirit’ comes forth.  Once it has moved from thoughts to words it is capable of moving to our hands and take a tool or weapons and commit the actual act of murder.  But, the action of murder began in the head.  I hope you see that and if you do you will realize how vital it is that we ‘change our thoughts’ and learn to ‘set our minds’ on things above.

Every action we have ever performed began in our thoughts.  For that reason, we are responsible for our actions and our thinking.  In 1 Peter 1:13, we find the apostle Peter calling on believers to bring their lives together and to begin to live as Christians ought to live.  He says, “Gird up the loins of your mind for action…”  That is powerful.

Let me give you the Eastern background and understanding of that statement and thought.  The Easterners wore long flowing robes.  Those robes always got in the way of what they were doing.  I suggest that you bring that visual into your mind or put on a long flowing robe and try to do various chores.  They were incredibly difficult to work in.  When they would go to work, they would ‘gird up’ their robes.  They would bring them up and tuck them into their waistbands to keep them from getting in the way.  That’s the expression that Peter uses for the mind.

Basically, he was saying, “Don’t let your thoughts just wander all over the place unrestrained or undisciplined.  Don’t trip over your thoughts and let them get in your way.  Rather, you, gird up your mind for action.  Get ready for action.”

It is our responsibility to ‘set’ our minds on things above and to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.  It is God’s responsibility to help us achieve the fullness of the Christian life as we take the steps He has mandated and as we learn to ‘think differently’ we will also begin to ‘live differently.’

God bless you as you begin the journey of developing a new way of thinking!  Have a great day in Jesus!