Your Mind in Christ

Nevertheless it is more probable that you know someone who had been healthy person or genius became mad and crazy. But even if you don’t know one genius that became mad, what surely you know is someone that some time ago used to have a brilliant mind but now even cannot memorize one biblical text.

Usually we give for granted that with the time our mind will be in worse and worse condition. But if we believe that this Book is the Word of God, then we must believe that if it says that the spirit of our mind can be renewed, then I must expect to recover or to improve the potentiality of my mind. Then “The Christian duty is to improve His mind by the grace of God”

Our mind

The human mind is something incomprehensible: with only 1.3 Kilograms, constituted by approximately 100 thousand millions of nervous cells, which we call as neurons. The brain is the organ that controls all our body. You know, our brain is too powerful that even if all my body is perfectly good, but my mind says that I am sick, I will feel sick and I will act like sick people.

The brain is the centre of control of my body. My movements are controlled from my brain, the sleep, the appetite, the thirsty, and every vital activity is controlled from my mind.

Every emotion, love, hate, fear, happiness, sadness, terror, anxiety, joy and all that you can remember, are controlled by our minds.

Every signal or information that comes from the exterior also is interpreted by our minds. In this moment, it is your mind that is try to understand me, and your mind can understand me well or wrong.

That is why is very important to care our minds, because all our existence depend in our minds.

A damaged brain is like a failed engine of the car. It still works but expels too much smoke, spends fuel, does not develop the speed it should develop, overheats, needs rest, and from time to time needs to be repaired.

A damaged brain is like a failed motor, with a failed engine the car still walks but smokes, spends fuel, does not develop the speed it should develop, overheats, needs rest, and from time to time needs repair.

But How can my brain be damaged? In the same way that we can damage a computer. If you take a ball and kick it to the computer, maybe the first time the computer will survive, but if you does it continually, surely with the time your computer will break.

If you overcharge your computer or if you make it work without rest, also your computer will be damage. But the big problem with the computers are the viruses, i.e. the information that intentional or unintentionally is stored in the computer, sometimes the damage that this bad information can cause to your computer is so big that it will became unusable.

Our mind also has problems with the viruses, if you put bad information there, it surely will be damaged. That is why, it is very important to take care about what we see, what we listen, and consequently what we think. Today through a different ways your mind is under attack, someone wants you mad or at least with a mind that cannot work in all his capacity.

I don’t know how is the actual condition of your mind? Only you know if you have more capacity that ten years ago or if your mind is every year becoming worse.

Some people think that doesn’t matter what time they sleep, or what they eat, what they drink or what sports they play, they think that everything will be the same, but that is not true. Even though it is true that in this sinner world, it appears that we are condemned to lose our vital force every day, we must remember that for everything there is hope in God.

Before talk about the remedy for our problem, we will see closer what is the real problem of us. We said that our brain, i.e. our mind, is the centre of control of our bodies. Today there are innumerable people that even cannot be stand up, not for physical problems but only for they has, says the doctors, mental exhaustion.

There are others that cannot sleep, and others that sleep too much. There are also people that always feels hungry, they are always eating, but there are also people that don’t want to eat. The problem is not the bed, the problem is not the food, the problem is in the mind.

But a worse think is what happen with our emotions. Our mind is the centre of our emotions, if our mind is wrong, i.e. if we are not right in the head, we cannot love and we cannot understand when others love us. That is why some people says “I cannot love you” or “You don’t love me”, the problem is not in others, the problem is in our minds. God loves us and we don’t deserve it, therefore we can love anyone, not matter if they deserve it or not.

There are people that cannot leave bad feelings, they are keeping hate, fear, insecurity, anxiety and whatever that you can imaging that is wrong, in their hearts. These people cannot live a happy live, they are always thinking that their unhappiness is owing to the behavior of the people that surround them, but the real problem is in their minds. We can say with Paul “even in my sufferings I can rejoice” but maybe some of us are saying the opposite, i.e. Pastor “even in my joy I am suffering”. The problem is not out there, the problem is here inside, the problem is in our minds.

But even if you feel happy don’t be sure that you are right, I know people that is happy for things that are evidently wrong things. The other day I saw in the in the internet someone that posted int he Facebook an announcement of his happy wedding with a doll. But worse, there are a lot of people that affirms to be happy and they are single people but with enough age in order to be married. The problem is in our mind, these people try to believe that they are happy even in wrong situations.

As you see, there is a big problem. Our mind, our brain, can make us feel happiness when we must feel sadness. Our minds can make us feel hungry when we really don’t need food. Our mind can make us feel unloved when we are truly loved. But as I already told you, for us there is hope, God is our hope, because God can recreated and protect our minds.

The text in which we are meditating tonight is and it begins saying “Instead”. But “instead “of what, the text says, instead “off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” . Instead of this mind that deceive us, instead of this brain that make us to live a false life of happiness, God wants to put a new one, God wants to make a recreation in us in order that we have a mind that will tell us the true, that will make us to live a truly happiness life.

Ephesians 4:23–24 NLT

Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception

From the Greek text of this passage, it is possible to affirm that is God who will make the transformation of our minds. God is the only one that can renew our thoughts and attitudes. The greek verb ἀνανεόω which usually we translate as “renew” is in present tense and passive voice, which means that we get the benefit continually and that we cannot do anything in order to renew our mind, this only is the job of God. We only need to ask and obey the directions of God in order that He can perform the miracle in us. Also from the greek grammar it is possible to affirm that Paul is saying that we will feel the transformation, we will experienced it, even though we will never will know when and where this miracle begun and how this miracle happens.

Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2013), .

But the word of god not only says I will renew your mind, i.e. I will ἀνανεόω your mind. God’s word also says “I will cover your mind”. The greek verb that we usually translate as “put on” is ἐνδύω and literally means “to dress, to cloth, to cover”, with the sense of protection and take care. So, God cant recreated our mind but also He wants to take care of it. He knows that our mind is under attack and He only is the one that can make us free of the attacks of the evil.

All of us need these two miracles of God. The miracle of renewing and the miracle of covering. All of us want to enjoy the life, but in order to achieve that goal, we need a mind that can help us to live a truly life of happiness, we need a new mind not the natural and sinner one. But also we need protection for that new mind.

How many people today desperately needs to forget memories that tie them to the past and don’t allow them to go ahead. How many need to forgive, because the resentment don’t allow them to live a happy life. Thousands and millions of people will never find what they are looking for, because they don’t go to the only one that can give them a new mind. They are straggling every day, they are suffering inside, even though sometimes it is not easy to see their sufferings.

But this is not only the problem, the problem is that this kind of people also don’t allow other to enjoy the life. They makes their families miserable families, they make their children unsuccessful children, they make their relatives wretch persons. But how different is the life of the one who his or her mind has been renew and is protected. How different is the life of those who live with someone that has going through this miraculous process that only God can perform.

But before end, I must say that our text says something more, our text affirms that when someone experiences that miraculous process of transformation, then this one will be recreated in order to be like God, i.e. in order to have a righteous and holy life.

I don’t know what do you think, but I want to be a just, righteous and holy person. I don’t want it for myself, I want it for my family, for my church, for my society, for my relatives. I don’t want to be the source of the sufferings of them, I want to be the source of their happiness. But I know that it is impossible for me to be a good one without the continue renew of my mind that God offers me and without the protection of my mind that He also offers me, because everything begins in my mind.

I also don’t want to live or to be surrounded by persons that will give me sadness and will make my life a wretch life, what I want is to be surrounded by just, righteous and holy people. But also I know that only God can make the people that lives with me a good people, because only He can renew their minds, only God can protect their minds, only God can transform them and make them people that will bring me truly happiness.

So there are two things that we must do and no one of them deals with try to change the other. These two things are: 1) Keep to touch with God at least once a day, and 2) Help the other to keep in touch with God at least once a day. If your relatives are making you miserable, try to apply these two advice. If you are not the source of happiness to your friends, family and society, apply this two advice, if your students are making you unhappy, don’t tray to change them, that is not your job, help them to keep in touch with God at least once a day, with the time, they and you will experience a better life.

Everything begins in our mind and God also wants to begin working in our minds, please never go out without pray and read the Bible, if you are the father or the mother and you want to have a nice and happy day, please don’t allow one member of your family to go out without asking the miracle of transformation to God.

Remember, if you put you mind in God, God will put His mind in you and you will be like Him. Remember, if you help other to put their minds in God, God will put His mind in them and they will be like God. Then, if you and them are like God what amazing life you will have.