In a previous post, I briefly mentioned the mind of Christ. But what exactly is the mind of Christ and how do we obtain it? Generally a person gets the mind of Christ when they are saturated with the Word of God which is made alive through the Holy Spirit resulting in Christlike thinking. The opposite of the mind of Christ is the natural mind which is characterized by life without the Spirit. When you have the mind of Christ, when your thoughts are controlled by the Spirit, you will love the things that Jesus loves and hate the things that Jesus hates. Having the mind of Christ allows us to think of things the way Christ thinks of things. You’ll see yourself and the world around you the way Jesus does. It enables us to interpret all of life through the cross.

In Philippians, Paul gives us some clues about what the mind of Christ ought to look like:

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!” Phil 2:5-8 (emphasis mine)

Let’s break this apart. Here the mindset of Christ is marked by humility. Jesus is God, but he “made himself nothing”. That is what humility looks like. It also says he had the “nature of a servant”, becoming “obedient to death”. Jesus was willing to suffer for others. This is the essence of Christlike thinking—but how do we actually acquire it?

First, we must renew our minds. Renewing our minds transforms us so that we begin to think like Christ. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2a One of the ways to do this is to immerse ourselves in God’s Word. We end up breathing and thinking the truth of God’s Word instead of the lies of the enemy. The mind of Christ doesn’t come naturally to us because unless we are controlled by the Spirit, we are controlled by our flesh and the natural mind. So we must be continually be filled with he Holy Spirit, so that He controls our thinking.

Renewing our minds means that we should set our minds on things above, on godly things rather than ourselves or the cares of this world. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Col 3:1-2 (emphasis mine)

Ultimately, you can see the shape of the mind of Christ by the fruit it bears. Galatians 5 is instructive here. First lets look at what the natural mind produces: “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Gal 5:19-20 The opposite of this is the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians goes on to say that the fruit of the Spirit are things like love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Gal 5:22). When you begin to exhibit these qualities, it’s a good clue that you may have the mind of Christ.

So may we daily choose to lay down our natural minds at the foot of the cross, asking the Spirit to renew us so that we can love what Jesus loves, serve as He served, and see the world through His eyes.