Our minds are developed by the world and the way we live. The world lives separated from God. Our background, our parents and those who surround us inject into us a mind that thinks as the world teaches. Who we are, what we think, our beliefs and our behavior come from a worldly self-centered mind. Scripture tells us that once we become a Christian we are to change our thinking, our attitudes and how we live. We are to repent by changing the direction we have been heading. This takes developing the “mind of Christ”.

Romans 12:1 & 2 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

It is God’s plan for His children to have a new mind-set that will make life good, enjoyable and pleasing. He wants only what is best for us. We are to no longer conform to the world’s ways, their behavior and their customs that cause corruption. The world’s ways are being proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn and arrogant.

Therefore, it is God’s known will that we are to transform by renewing our minds. Many new Christian converts are unwilling to give up their pride and their self-control. Two things are necessary to renew our minds so we can be transformed to be more like Christ. We must know God’s will and His ways and that only comes from reading or hearing the Word. We are told that we cannot do it on our own it takes the Holy Spirit to transform us and change our thinking. It is a gradual and continual process and our minds will not be completely Christ-like until we are in Heaven. With our knowledge of Scripture, the Holy Spirit will renew, re-educate and redirect our minds. Little will happen if we do not surrender and give up control to the Holy Spirit and make a commitment to stop living a sinful life. We are not to become impatient and frustrated because it does not happen instantly.

I John 3:2 – “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

It is apparent that many Christians fail to establish strong convictions, to stand for something regardless of the consequences. A conviction is the unwillingness to compromise on pre-determined Christian principles. Having no convictions, you have no standards or limitations. Developing the “mind of Christ” causes one to have strong convictions. This is why obedience to God’s will is so important. Many Christians are more willing to be politically correct than to stand firm in what they know is right.

Other Scripture tells us that if we surrender, make a commitment and stop living a sinful life, the Holy Spirit will transform us and give us a new mind in a way similar to Christ. We then must live daily being focused on Christ. For example: Titus 3:5 – “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” We are not to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness once a week. It is a continual every day, all the time seeking. We know that Christ talked to God throughout every day and prior to every decision. We must realize that God gave us His Spirit to help us. Are we dependent upon His help? Do we take advantage of God’s Spirit being with us to help us? God says He wants what is best for us. Are you taking advantage of His promise? Do we want what God says is best for us or what the world says we should be or what we need? Do we think each time we pray that we need to surrender our worldly nature whose influence is to live worldly? Are we continually thanking God for everything He is doing in our lives? Probably not, if we are not even aware of Divine intervention that can occur daily and is not recognized.

Romans 12:3 – “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

It is important to have a healthy self-esteem but we must not over estimate ourselves. Paul is telling us the importance of being humble because of our commitment to Christ. We must never allow ourselves to become self-righteous. The stronger our faith, the greater our realization, what we have is a gift from God. We must never measure ourselves by someone else’s standards or let someone else set our standards. God has given each believer a standard of faith to measure ourselves and that standard is Christ. We are to measure ourselves according to our relationship to Christ. If Christ were our standard we would never have to worry about being humble. The “mind of Christ” is being humble, loving, obedient and the mind of a servant.