by:  Cris Corzine-McCloskey

There is a passage in 1 Corinthians that says, as believers, we “have the mind of Christ.” But having His mind doesn’t guarantee we will think His thoughts. Having something and using something are two different things.

I had a treadmill, and had I used that treadmill, I would have opened a fantastic world of health and fitness. Instead, I hung clothes on it until eventually, it ended up in a yard sale. I look out there and see a world of Christians using the mind of Christ as a clothes hanger. But what kind of world would we see if we spent a day thinking like Jesus?

Jesus thinks good things about you and me. The Bible says our faith in Christ has made us “brand new creatures,” and we have the Spirit of Jesus living in our born-again hearts. God is now our Father, He “delights in” us, and in His eyes, we are “above reproach.” According to the dictionary, “above reproach” means “such that no criticism can be made.” To think with the mind of Jesus about yourself means no more self-deprecation!

It also means no more nitpicking of others. Jesus was big on that “love your neighbor as yourself” edict. And He didn’t add qualifiers. To think with the mind of Christ is to love your neighbor, no matter what political party, religious belief, or sexual orientation. Foreign and domestic. Friends and enemies. Addicts and drunks. Tattoos, piercings, and multicolored mohawks included. Jesus loves them all and sees them as precious and worthy of His love. If that’s not what you think when you look at others, you are not thinking Jesus’ thoughts.

To spend a day in the mind of Christ would eliminate election stress and hatred toward the elected officials. It says in the Bible, “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Restated, that means if a person is in office, God put them there, and He has a reason for it. Trump or Biden, Republican, Democrat, or Mickey Mouse. If they are elected, it is God-ordained and for God’s purposes. So, if you want to think Jesus’ thoughts about the election, you decide who you will vote for, then trust the rest to God.

One of Jesus’ nicknames is Prince of Peace. That gets to be our litmus test on whether we are utilizing the “mind of Christ” or using it as a clothes hanger. None of the crazy stuff that is going on in the world today is making Jesus nervous. Not COVID, facemasks, public education, riots, elections, none of it. Jesus knows we are on a Kingdom clock, and all this insanity will be worked toward the purposes of the loving Father.

I hear a lot of people out there talking about these being the “last days.” Personally, I believe we have a way to go. In Ephesians 4, Paul prophesied that the Church would come to a place of unity, love, and maturity toward the last days. To me, that means in the last days, believers will be thinking Jesus thoughts. If Christians continue arguing between denominations and with everyone else out there who might dare oppose us, I think it will be a while until we hear that trumpet blow.

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