There is a better and easier way: Change your autopilot—the way you think. The Bible says, “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”5 Your first step in spiritual growth is to start changing the way you think. Change always starts first in your mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act. Paul said, “There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.”6
To be like Christ you must develop the mind of Christ. The New Testament calls this mental shift repentance, which in Greek literally means “to change your mind.” You repent whenever you change the way you think by adopting how God thinks—about yourself, sin, God, other people, life, your future, and everything else. You take on Christ’s outlook and perspective.
The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act.
We are commanded to “think the same way that Christ Jesus thought.”7 There are two parts to doing this. The first half of this mental shift is to stop thinking immature thoughts, which are self-centered and self-seeking. The Bible says, “Stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.”8 Babies by nature are
completely selfish. They think only of themselves and their own needs. They are incapable of giving; they can only receive. That is immature thinking. Unfortunately, many people never grow beyond that kind of thinking. The Bible says that selfish thinking is the source of sinful behavior: “Those who live following their sinful selves think only about things that their sinful selves want.”9 The second half of thinking like Jesus is to start thinking maturely, which focuses on others, not yourself. In his great chapter on what real love is, Paul concluded that thinking of others is the mark of maturity: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”10
Today many assume that spiritual maturity is measured by the amount of biblical information and doctrine you know. While knowledge is one measurement of maturity, it isn’t the whole story. The Christian life is far more than creeds and convictions; it includes conduct and character. Our deeds must be consistent with our creeds, and our beliefs must be backed up with Christlike behavior.
Christianity is not a religion or a philosophy, but a relationship and a lifestyle. The core of that lifestyle is thinking of others, as Jesus did, instead of ourselves. The Bible says, “We should think of their good and try to help them by doing what pleases them. Even Christ did not try to please himself.”11
Thinking of others is the heart of Christlikeness and the best evidence of spiritual growth. This kind of thinking is unnatural, counter-cultural, rare, and difficult. Fortunately we have help: “God has given us his Spirit. That’s why we don’t think the same way that the people of this world think.”12 In the next few chapters we will look at the tools the Holy Spirit uses to help us grow.
DAY TWENTY-THREE
THINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSE
Point to Ponder: It is never too late to start growing.
Verse to Remember: “Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.” Romans 12:2b (TEV)
Question to Consider: What is one area where I need to stop thinking my way and start thinking God’s way?
24
Transformed by Truth
People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.
Matthew 4:4 (NLT)
God’s…gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need.
Acts 20:32 (Msg)
The truth transforms us.
Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with truth. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”1 Sanctification requires revelation. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us like the Son of God. To become like Jesus, we must fill our lives with his Word. The Bible says, “Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.”2
God’s Word is unlike any other word. It is alive.3 Jesus said, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”4 When God speaks, things change. Everything around you—all of creation—exists because “God said it.” He spoke it all into existence. Without God’s Word you would not even be alive. James points out, “God decided to give us life through the word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things he made.”5