The Mind of Christ

16 For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)

This is one of those mornings. The type of day where you think deeply about mistakes you made. This is a day in which we measure ourselves to some unrealistic standard yourself or others have placed upon you. Your mind is wrecked in the debris of an all too human life. If you’re not careful, this can easily seep into your identity. “I failed, therefore I am a failure.” If this was not bad enough, we can take the same harsh criticism and spill it into our relationships. In this, we limit possibilities and ruin intimacy. It is a warped way of thinking. But in this cycle, we are free.

What does it look like to have the mind of Christ? Did He sit around coffee shops lamenting on how he could have done better or how a co-worker dropped the ball? If Jesus heard your thoughts, would he agree? If we had an interaction with Him, while we would want to talk UFO’s and JFK, I believe He would be more concerned with our self-talk and love for others. Perhaps this is all that matters. For as a man thinks, he becomes. This platitude also works with how we view others. We characterize and label before understanding their complexity or hurt, which is absolutely more defining to a person’s character than their fleeting successes. In no way does thinking like Christ let us off the hook. We fail, and often there are consequences. However, a Christ like mind is flooded with impossible grace and a deep understanding of a broken humanity in which He came, loved, and rescued. This mind sees every day as a new set of hours, full of life and letdowns. In this fog of achievement and relationship, we must journey deeper. To see the narrative of redemption flooding our spaces and laying waste to our thought space.

Lord, give us your mind. Break us of undue criticism and let us forgive ourselves and others as deeply as you have.