Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ- 1st Peter 1:13 NASB

The New Testament contains many thought-provoking little tidbits that are not really substantial enough to qualify as a complete verse. These are more like little phrases— many of them have a lot of gold to mine. 

Here’s one of them:

But we have the mind of Christ- 1st Corinthians 2:16

 This little phrase begs a whole bunch of critically important questions, including: 

Are all Christians just given “the mind of Christ” at the moment of salvation? 

Did the Corinthian Christians have the “mind of Christ” or was Paul just wishing they did or hoping they would figure it out? 

Does the English phrase “mind of Christ” mean something especially special in Greek? 

If we don’t automatically receive the mind of Christ at salvation, how do we get “the mind of Christ?

So. 

Context is useful in grasping the deeper meaning here. This little snippet is a tiny fragment of a greater conversation Paul was having concerning some super stupid things the Corinthian Christians were doing and thinking. Therefore, it is safe to assume Paul is not commending the Corinthians for having “the mind of Christ”. Nor is the mind of Christ is something all Christians are given as a part of the initial salvation package. Although, the mind of Christ is obviously something every Christian CAN have and should go after. I was a bit surprised to discover the phrase “mind of Christ” means pretty much the same thing in Greek as it does in English. Basically, it means “to think like God”. Consequently, if someone has the “mind of Christ”, they will see events, life and people the same way God does. 

This means the “how” of thinking like God is critical, so critical, it is probably the key to a lot of our spiritual growth and maturity. Without it we will likely flounder spiritually, just as the Corinthians were. Thankfully, there are four easy things every believer can (and should) do daily that will move them closer to the goal of having “the mind of Christ”

Go after discernment (Psalm 119:66, Philippians 1:9)-  

The word discernment and its derivatives are used thirty-two times throughout the Bible. The Greek word for discernment is anakrino. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent examination, to scrutinize.” A discerning individual thinks issues and situations through prayerfully. Discerning people learn to apply biblical principles to all of life. This gives them the wisdom to understand deeper (sometimes hidden) issues in each situation. Furthermore, discerning people understand all of life is connected. Everything we do and think affects everything else, behaviors and attitudes have consequences (Hebrews 12:15).  We acquire discernment through intimacy with Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom (Colossians 2:2-3).  Consistent Bible reading, prayer and the practice of consciously applying the Bible to life gives discernment ample space to flourish in our lives. 

Limit worldly voices in your life-

Everything we do is a direct result of what we think about (Matthew 6:22, Psalm 26:3, Psalm 110:3). What we choose to read, watch, listen to become powerful influences that consciously and/or subconsciously influence how we think and behave. Consequently, if we want to develop the mind of Christ it is wise to exercise caution and discernment about what influences we allow access to our lives. 

Get the word of God in you so it will come out of you- 

The more exposure we have to worldly entertainment and ideas the more worldly our thinking will become. Conversely, the more exposure we have to the word of God and biblical principles the more we think like God. We become what we marinate in. Getting into the word daily and surrounding ourselves with biblical principles ensures we will acquire the “mind of Christ” as we mature. 

Ruthlessly go after congruency- 

Congruency is one of the five (four?) math terms I actually understand. It means sameness. If a Christian’s life is congruent, they are the same all the time. There is no subterfuge, deception or hypocrisy in their lives.  Jesus hates hypocrisy. Jesus mentioned or taught on hypocrisy twenty-one times in the gospels. Not once did He have anything positive to say about hypocrites or hypocrisy (Luke 12:1, Matthew 6:2-16, Matthew 23, Matthew 15:6-8, Matthew 24:51). It is impossible for a person to think like Jesus while doing something Jesus despised. All humans tend towards hypocrisy. Thus, hypocrisy is something we must mercilessly root out of our lives. The only way to root out hypocrisy is with sincere and sometimes ruthless reflection. We must make a practice of scrutinizing not just our actions but also our attitudes and the motives behind our actions (1st Corinthians 11:27-29, 2nd Corinthians 13:5). 

Okay, so full disclosure:

The mind of Christ is awesome, essentially, it’s like having a spiritual superpower. It enables the average Joe or Jane Christian to think like God. This in turn empowers average people to do things and endure things they could never do in their own power and human wisdom (2nd Corinthians 12:9). However, it’s not always all sunshine and gummy bears. As our thinking becomes more like God’s there will be times when the world (and the people in it) will not always understand what we’re doing or why we’re doing it. We need to do it anyway, because when we do the world sees Jesus in us and we please the Lord.