[For] Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. – Romans 8:5
What was the last show you binge-watched? Or game you played incessantly? Or issue you got caught up in? If none of the above, what was the last thing that captured your mind for an extended period?
About a month ago, I started playing sudoku on my phone, and I got hooked. I spent far too much time thinking about numbers in lines and boxes and I would see numbers as I fell asleep. (In case you’re wondering, yes, sudoku is one of the things I’m fasting this month.)
Were you one who kept looking at covid-related headlines back in 2020? Did you find yourself compulsively checking for updates whilst feeling more and more anxious, and erroneously trying to assuage your anxiety with more information?
Have you found that when you spend time with people who are constantly complaining, you begin to complain more? And when you spend time with people who are grateful, you begin to be more thankful?
The ideas, the words, the images that we allow into our minds are powerful; even more so when we dwell on those things.
The pattern of our lives is an outworking of the focus of our minds. This is what Paul is talking about in this verse. Our minds can be set in one of two directions: the Spirit (by which Paul means the Holy Spirit, rather than generally spiritual things) or the flesh (by which Paul means the ways in which we ‘naturally’ think, as sinful people). Paul is explaining why people who are not in Christ, who therefore do not have the Holy Spirit in them, cannot do anything to reverse their condemnation. They cannot because their minds have only the narrow ability to think in ungodly ways.
But what of the Christian, whose mind is able and should be set on the things of the Spirit, who has become distracted by other things?
The Bible, and Paul here, is consistent in its division of all people into only one of two categories: God’s people, and everyone else. There is no in-between, there is no meaningful ‘almost’ or ‘runner-up’.
There is an implicit warning in these divisions. Is your mind routinely set on the Spirit, or on the flesh? Are your ways of assessing issues, making decisions, setting priorities patterned after the ways of God, or the ways of the flesh? Does your life look more like “everyone else” than Christ? Do your ideas and opinions line up more with the cultural norm or the Bibles?
And arguably the most pointed question of the lot: if your finances were laid open for scrutiny, would they reflect the priorities and love of God and neighbour?
What we set our minds on shows forth in the pattern of our lives.
If you feel convicted, as I do even as I write this, remember again that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus; but His sacrifice was to free us to grow in holiness. The Holy Spirit convicts us, He doesn’t condemn us, so that we can work (with Him) towards Christlikeness.
Be specific about where the Holy Spirit is convicting you and track back with Him to the root thought that has led to the sinful action. What lie are you believing? What truth of God are you neglecting? How can you pointedly feed what is Godly and true into your mind? By what means have lies taken root in your mind?
This is not easy. We don’t even have to leave our homes to hear and see many things that don’t align with God’s truth. We need to immerse ourselves in God and talk things through with both Him and His people, so that we can discern together the things of the Spirit. Be careful – be mindful – of what you take in. You may be ‘mindlessly’ scrolling through a feed, but your mind is still being formed. Be proactive and set your mind on the things of the Spirit.
Prayer focus:
- Praise God that, by His Spirit, He has given us new minds and opened us to understand His ways.
- Pray that we guard our minds and that God will show us how we need to change our thought patterns.
- Pray that we will grow in discernment and that our lives will be shaped more and more by God’s priorities.
