How To Renew Your Thinking
RENEWING YOUR THINKING
Remember how you learned to swim, or to ride a bicycle? At first, it wasn’t easy. You sank. You crashed! It wasn’t long, though, before what you had begun to do consciously and continued to do repeatedly you did habitually, and then automatically. Think how boring life would be if you had to learn to do each one of these things again – every time.
But you don’t, because you do them automatically.
If you drive an automobile with manual gear change, you actually drive it automatically. You don’t consciously change gears, thinking about which gear you should move into what position. That would make driving a matter of intense concentration. In fact, it’s easy, because once you learned to drive – crunching the gears and stalling the car a few times in the process – slipping through the gears soon became a habit. After a while you did it without thinking. You drove your automobile automatically!
The same with swimming or riding a bicycle: after doing these things consciously and repeatedly, in time you did them automatically. This enabled your mind to think of other things. How long to swim? How far to ride?
Your mind stores repeated thoughts in patterns, which is why you don’t have to think about how to do certain things. After doing them repeatedly, you end up doing them automatically.
“A pattern is anything that is repeated more often than chance.” Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson: “Software For The Brain (Wrightbooks)
Chance is something that takes place without our choice or will, and without any known law or reason.
CREATING THOUGHT PATTERNS
“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” (Ephesians 4:23)
“And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude].” AMPLIFIED BIBLE
The spirit of your mind is the attitude, temper or disposition of your mind. Your human spirit was renewed when you were “born again,” but continuous attitude changes are needed until you have “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5).
Your brain is the hardware: your Necktop PC, so to speak. Your mind is the software: its program. The spirit of your mind is what is stored in your mind through what you have seen, heard, read and experienced. But you can’t just change the spirit of your mind as simply as you would remove a CD or Flash drive from your computer and insert a new one. Nor can you simply delete the carnal mind and install the mind of Christ. The apostle Paul said: “We (apostles) have the mind of Christ…but you (Corinthians) are yet carnal.” (1 Corinthians 2:16; 3:1-3) The change is not an instant one.
It takes time for the spirit of your mind to be renewed. Bad attitudes need to be replaced by good attitudes. The temper, disposition, or mood of your mind must become Christlike. Your brain is not the problem. It uses only what has been stored in it. Garbage in – garbage out!
Your mind is governed either by good or bad unconscious attitudes, which influence your actions. Most people have no idea how much their unconscious attitudes influence their actions.
The prophet Malachi used four short statements to surface some bad, unconscious attitudes in his people. Their angry reactions revealed just how influential those attitudes were.
UNCONSCIOUS ATTITUDE #1
“I have loved you, says the LORD. Yet you say, ‘In what way have you loved us'” (Malachi 1:2)
In their ignorance, the people were totally unaware of how much God had loved them, until it surfaced in their “Prove it!” attitude. God’s choice of Jacob over Esau was proof enough. God loved Jacob before he was born, knowing Jacob would value the firstborn son’s birthright. He had also hated Esau, knowing that he would despise the birthright. God loves imperfect individuals who value spiritual things. He can change them, in time.
UNCONSCIOUS ATTITUDE #2
“You priests despise my name. And you say, ‘In what way have we despised your name?’ You offer second-rate sacrifices to me.” (Malachi 1:6)
In offering blind, lame and sick animals – “no loss” sacrifices – the priests had displayed their contempt for God – an attitude no subject would dare manifest to an earthly ruler. “Second-best” offerings were not good enough – God required their very best.
The priests’ unconscious contempt surfaced in their “Prove it!” reaction to the LORD’S statement. Once it surfaced, it was in their conscious minds, where He could deal with it.
UNCONSCIOUS ATTITUDE #3
“You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we wearied Him?’ In that you say, ‘Every one who does evil is considered good by the LORD, and He is pleased with them.’ Or, ‘Where is the God of justice?'” (Malachi 2:17)
The question of God’s seeming indifference in the face of evil people prospering is an age-old one. Even King David grappled with it. (Psalm 73:3) But what your conscious mind may think about only now and then, your unconscious mind may dwell on most of the time.
Conscious thoughts become unconscious attitudes when you dwell too long on them. Unanswered questions about the injustices of life can slowly sink beneath the surface – out of sight, but definitely not out of mind. Does God really care? The attitude formed is reinforced by perceptions that He doesn’t. In time, this becomes the spirit of your mind – the unconscious attitude that influences your actions.
Somewhere, sometime, someone mentions Justice and God in the same sentence, and – you react! The words touch a kind of reflex nerve in your thinking. Frequent over-emotional and illogical outbursts may be evidences of an unconscious attitude. Secretly hidden, carefully nursed, quietly fed, but there, nevertheless, in the spirit of your mind. Eventually, because God loves you, He exposes it. But it tries His patience.
UNCONSCIOUS ATTITUDE #4
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.” (Malachi 3:8)
Some Israelites thought that 10% of their income was too much to give.
“We’ve got needs, as well as the Levites!”
They withheld the tithe. God withheld His blessing. Insects attacked their crops. The grapevines withered. They withheld the tithe. God withheld…
“Now we can’t afford to tithe!”
How long did it take them to form their mean, withholding attitude? Not overnight. It probably began when they stopped thanking God for the 90% and started begrudging Him the 10%.
“Think what we could do with that extra 10%.”
These people had no conscious knowledge of their attitudes. Yet these attitudes strongly influenced their actions – and caused their reactions.
Ingratitude, Contempt, Accusation and Resentment were all deep-seated, unconscious, evil attitudes, held by the people of Malachi’s time.
You cannot consciously change your unconscious mind. If you could, then you would be conscious of the unconscious!
The only way to renew your mind is to do the very opposite thing to what you are now doing, and want to stop doing.
You must do the opposite (1) Consciously, and (2) Repeatedly, until you do it (3) Habitually. Then you will end up doing it (4) Automatically.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), the great mathematician (who sewed the bible text that brought him to Christ into his coat-lining as a reminder) called the subconscious self the automaton.
“We are as much automaton as mind. Demonstrations and proofs only convince the mind. Habit provides the strongest proofs and those that are most believed. When we believe only by the strength of our conviction and the automaton is inclined to believe the opposite, that is not enough. We must therefore make both parts of us believe: the mind by reasons, which need to be seen only once in a lifetime, and the automaton by habit, and not allowing it any inclination to the contrary.”
Put simply, Pascal was saying exactly what the apostle Paul had written 1600 years before him: that there is a “body of sin” – not a physical body, but a body of behaviour, comprised of sinful habit patterns. (Romans 6:6) Like a corporate body, it has many aspects. Like a body of evidence, it is the sum of a person’s overall behaviour.
Old response patterns make up the body of sin, which is not the “sin nature” itself, but the style which it has taken on and the way in which it presents itself. It is this style or habit pattern which needs to be changed.
In Ephesians 4:22, the apostle Paul says that you are to “put off” the old man – the person you once were. In verse 24, he says that you are to “put on” the new man – the person you are – as He now sees you. In order to enjoy being that person, you need to be renewed in the spirit of your mind (verse 23).
So there are “put offs” and there are “put ons” – vices to discard and virtues to acquire. Of course, it’s no use trying to “put on” a particular virtue until you have “put off” the corresponding vice. But it’s equally hopeless trying to “put on” the virtue in place of the vice until you have been “renewed” in the spirit of your mind.
Would you change dirty clothes for clean without showering in between?
The spirit of your mind is renewed as the Word of God replaces your thinking with His. The answer to the sin you keep on committing is: (1) God’s forgiveness, and (2) the thing you do to break its power over you.
After saying that you should “put off” the habit patterns of the person you used to be (Ephesians 4:22), Paul encourages you to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, before “putting on” the new person you are in Christ. Then he tells you exactly how to renew it.
“Let him who stole steal no more but rather let him labour, working with his hands that which is good, that he may have to give to him who has need.” (Ephesians 4:28).
The “put off” vice was stealing; the “put on” virtue is to be giving. (The virtue is the opposite thing to the vice.) But the renewing of the mind takes place as the thief learns the value of money earned by hard work. Most thieves are lazy. Why work for money, when you can steal what money buys? But not only does the former thief quit stealing – he becomes a giver! His giving is not simply due to the fact that he has stopped stealing – it is a product of his renewed mind!
Another example of being renewed in the spirit of your mind is found in Ephesians 4:25.
“Therefore, putting away lying, let every man speak truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”
It’s not hard to see the “put off” and the “put on” in this verse. But how is the liar renewed in the spirit of his mind? It happens when he recognizes his relationship to other members of Christ’s spiritual body, the church. Lying breeds distrust. Distrust makes a church dysfunctional. Truth helps make it an effective body of related believers.
The words “should” and “shouldn’t” have no part in the renewing of the mind. Both are “punishment” words. “Must” (do/not do) will foster anxiety about yourself and others. “Should” (be/do/have/not have) will breed anger at your own or someone else’s actions. “Should have”, “shouldn’t have” “must do” and “must not do” are self-punishing performance expressions. Don’t “turn over a new leaf” – live a new life!
Your mind is renewed – your attitudes are changed – not by trying harder, but by doing “put offs” and “put ons,” with “habit-breaking” actions and activities accompanying the “put ons” (the thief working; the liar learning to relate).
Some large denominations and churches have a first/biggest/best spirit of mind. Smaller churches often have a “faithful remnant” spirit of mind. It’s quantity versus quality, expansive outreach versus so-called deeper truths. Both camps have “attitude”!
What you are in the spirit of your mind will determine the spirit of your church, the spirit of your family, the spirit of your marriage, and the spirit of your ministry. It will determine who will be attracted to you and who will be repelled by you. How well you will handle life’s situations and circumstances will depend on how well your mind has been renewed.
Your unconscious desires gather selectively from the information processed by your conscious mind. Your unconscious mind believes what it is told, repeatedly. Tell it what you want it to believe! Talk faith into it. When it believes, you’ll have a spirit of faith – faith in your spirit. (2 Corinthians 4:13)
Of course, the Spirit of God can impart the gift of faith to you in an instant, so that you really believe every word you speak. But usually believing is the result of a process – as when you learned to swim, drive, and ride a bicycle.
Still struggling with sinful habits? Know that as you “put off” the old and “put on” the new – remembering to do the actions necessary to break those longtime habit-patterns – you will renew the spirit of your mind. Your attitude will change. You will become a new person. Renewing the spirit of your mind will enable you to live a life that is pleasing to God!
QUESTIONS FROM THE ABOVE
1. What are the three phases to doing routine things without having to actually think about doing them?
____________________ ________________________ _______________________
2. What is the definition of a pattern?
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3. What is the definition of chance?
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4. Three words describe “the spirit of your mind.” They are:
_____________________ _______________________ ________________________
5. Does a Christian receive “the mind of Christ” as soon as he or she is “born again”? If not, when?
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6. In computer terms, what can (a) your brain and (b) your mind be likened to?
(a) _____________________ (b) ______________________
7. In your own words describe the four unconscious attitudes displayed by the people in the Book of Malachi.
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8. Underline which of the following you think Blaise Pascal meant by the “automoton”:
The conscious mind. The subconscious mind. The physical body.
9. What must be done between “putting off the old man” and “putting on the new man”? (Ephesians 4:23)
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10. Which one of the following helps you to “put on the new man”:
Doing the direct opposite to the old sinful habit.
Praying that the old habit won’t come back.
Reading your Bible every single day.
11. What six things will the spirit of your mind determine?
_______________________________ ___________________________________
_______________________________ __________________________________
_______________________________ __________________________________
12. Which one of the following builds faith (and other positive spiritual values) into your spirit?
Going to church more often.
Viewing video tapes by TV evangelists.
Speaking God’s Word into your life repeatedly.
*After completing these 12 questions, please return the two Questions pages to your pastor or group leader. God bless you!
RULING YOUR THINKING
“The mind of Christ” doesn’t just happen – you must develop it. You can do this by deciding what you will allow into it. Trash or treasure? It’s your decision.
The church at Corinth didn’t have “the mind of Christ” – the Lord’s attitude. If they had, they wouldn’t have allowed followers of different personalities to develop in the church – “I am of Paul/Apollos/Peter” factions. They would have been built up in love, rather than puffed up with knowledge (which Paul called ignorance, and addressed repeatedly with the phrase – “Don’t you know?”). (1 Corinthians 8:1)
“We have the mind of Christ. However, brethren, I could not speak to you as spiritual people but as people still influenced by your corrupt nature.” (1 Corinthians 2:16; 3:1)
When it came to spiritual matters, the believers at Corinth were Christian contradictions – they were carnal charismatics!
“Carnal” (sarkikos) means fleshly – literally, “a hunk of raw meat.” It’s amazing that spiritual gifts are sometimes exhibited by raw Christians! A carnal Christian is immature, not because of youth but through lack of spiritual growth and development.
The non-Christian man is by nature unspiritual. Paul calls him “the natural (psychikos) man.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) He is not a fool in regard to the natural order of things but is ignorant of spiritual things, not having been born again.
The spiritual (pneumatikos) man evaluates everyone and everything (1 Corinthians 2:13,15) but is something of an enigma to less spiritual and therefore less discerning Christians (and a total mystery to non-Christians).
God wants you to become spiritual. He wants you to be able to understand and compare spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2:13); to acknowledge authority (1 Corinthians 14:37); and to gently restore those who’ve failed (Galatians 6:1).
“FLAKES” AREN’T NECESSARILY FAKES
Christians have been known to call some believers super-spiritual and flakes, even space cadets – “so far out they’re off the planet.” But God wants every believer to be highly spiritual! In contrast, pseudo-spiritual was the apostle Paul’s term for those who claimed to be something they were not. Paul used it to describe fakes. (2 Corinthians 11:13) So-called flakes are not usually fakes – they’re just over-zealous for new spiritual experiences. Those who use terms like “flakes” may lack true spirituality, which is most often seen in humility.
In its quality of humility, the mind of Christ is revealed in Paul’s letter to the Philippian church .
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not something to be held onto to be equal, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…” (Philippians 2:3-7)
The words “esteem” and “thought” in the above verses are one and the same word in the New Testament Greek: “hegeomai,” which means “To lead before the mind.” The English word hegemony (dominance) comes from it. Hegeomai is translated “governor” in Matthew 2:6. It means “one who leads” (through influence and authority).
Hegeomai is never used in relation to self-esteem but only in relation to our esteem for others. To esteem others better than ourselves is not to put ourselves down but rather to put them up.
Jesus chose the vulnerability of humanity, the humility of a servant’s role and the horror of the Cross. But before His mind was the honour of a Name above every name, a dominion in which every knee would bow in universal acknowledgement of His lordship. (Philippians 2:9-11)
How do we know that Jesus led these thoughts before His mind? It was “the joy that was set before Him” that enabled Him to endure the Cross and to despise the shame. (Hebrews 12:2)
“For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:7)
“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9: 51)
Similarly, in esteeming (same Greek word) the reproach for Messiah greater reward than the treasures of Egypt, Moses did not dismiss those riches as worthless, but instead put a far greater value on God’s reward. (Hebrews 11:26)
Moses led the reward before his mind. He made “the riches of the reward” the dominant thought. It then had hegemony, over the thought of the reproach. It dominated his thinking and made his choice to leave Egypt an easier one.
Future reward dominated present riches until future reward won out!
Knowing that God wants you to give up something is tough, but it’s encouraging to know that in its place He will give you something much better! You choose to think about what you will gain, rather than what you will lose. You lead that thought before your mind until it becomes the predominant thought.
Predominant thoughts rule! They govern your thinking!
The difference between static and dynamic people is that static people are passive and dynamic people are active!
The passive person says, “It can be done.” The active person says, “I can do it!” Do you see the difference? People who think and talk passively tend to fade into the background. They become static rather than dynamic characters. Those who think and talk actively come to the forefront. They play dynamic roles. Active people become leaders! Passive people remain followers.
In real life, it’s much the same: either you choose or others make the choices for you.
“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind…” (1 Peter 1:13) Or, as a modern translation puts it: “So prepare your mind for action.”
Don’t just allow your mind to drift, passively, downstream. Choose what you prefer to think about – even if it means thinking upstream, against the strong flow of negative thoughts.
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever ever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
What thought rules you? Is it condemnation? If so, then you need to learn what the Bible has to say about having confidence in God’s love. (1 John 3:20, 21; 5:14, 15)
The attitude of a church, home or workplace is the thought that rules it – the dominant thought. If you think that your church denomination is superior to all others in what it believes and practises, then that dominant thought will reveal itself in a superior attitude. That attitude will then be heard in what you say and seen in what you do. An attitude is a fixed mental position. A position can be changed at will.
Psychological self-assertion and self-esteem will make you strong at someone else’s expense. Jesus could have asserted Himself before Pontius Pilate, but He chose not to do so. Pilate marvelled at His self-control. It was that of a king. Pilate later had the title: “JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS” nailed over the Lord’s head, in recognition of His regal demeanor. (John 19:19)
This person, even in his beaten, flogged, and crucified state, was superior to those who had lied about Him, spat on Him, and humiliated Him.
“Don’t write: ‘THE KING OF THE JEWS'”, the chief priests protested – “write that he said I AM KING OF THE JEWS.”
Pilate’s answer was enigmatic: “What I have written I have written.” (John 19:22)
The World says: “Esteem yourself. If you don’t, nobody else will!”
The mind of Christ says: “I esteem (put a high value on) others more highly than I esteem myself.”
Will it work in our world? Earlier, we saw the mind of Christ in humility. Now see how it resulted in honour.
“Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)
It certainly worked for Jesus.
QUESTIONS FROM THE ABOVE
1. Why do you think the Corinthian church was divided into factions?
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2. Why is “carnal charismatic” a Christian contradiction?
________________________________________________________________________
3. List the three kinds of “man” Paul described, and briefly describe their characteristics.
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4. What are three characteristics of the “spiritual man”?
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5. What is a true sign of spirituality?
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6. When you esteem others better than yourself, does that mean you put yourself down?
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7. If not, what does it mean?
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8. List the three steps that Jesus took. (They all start with the letter “H”)
1. _____________________ 2. _______________________ 3. ____________________
9. What is the “dominant thought” that you would like to rule your mind? (In either one word or a brief description.)
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10. What helped Jesus to “despise the shame” of the Cross?
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11. What does it mean to “set your face”?
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12. What thought did Moses “lead before his mind” until it dominated all other thoughts?
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13. What is the difference between “upstream” and “downstream” thinking?
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14. “An attitude is a _________________ _____________ _________________.”
15. List the three realms where the Name of Jesus rules supreme.
_______________________ _____________________ ____________________________
*After completing these 15 questions, please return the two Questions pages to your pastor or group leader. God bless you!