Transform How You Think
Elisabeth Elliot said,
“The transformation of the mind produces a transformed vision of reality. It is nothing more than a transformed vision of reality that is able to see Christ as more real than the storm, love more real than hatred. Meekness more real than pride. Patience more real than annoyance. And holiness more real than sin.”
In short, how we steward our minds is crucial for the Christian life. Every thought is an opportunity for worship and love. That's why we're called to love God with all our minds.
There are so many verses in the Bible that directly command you on how to think. The word 'consider' in the Bible is a verb that tells us how to think and what to think about. The word either means to look at something in a reflective manner, like birds or flowers all around us, or to think about something carefully and deeply, or even to determine something by a mathematical process, to reckon or calculate something to be true. The biblical commands to consider are plain and simple ways to steward our minds how Scripture tells us to do so. And to think about what Scripture tells us to think about. Here are six biblical commands to consider that will transform how you think.
1: Consider Jesus.
Hebrews 3:1 and Hebrews 12:3 tell us to consider Jesus, to think carefully about Jesus, and to remember Him.
“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession: Jesus;”
“For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary [a]and lose heart.”
His faithfulness, as our great High Priest who provided the sacrifice for our sin and intercedes for us. To remember what He endured on the cross on our behalf, so that we don't give up. Specifically, so that we don't grow mentally weary or emotionally faint-hearted. Think about the greatness and the glory of Jesus, and you'll begin to love Him with all your mind.
2: Consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Another is Romans 6:11 which tells us to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
“So you too, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
We are no longer in Adam but in Christ. United to Him as our bodies are united to our heads or as a bride is united to her groom. We're not dead in sins and trespasses any longer, so we shouldn't think about ourselves that way. Rather, we are alive to God, regenerated, and made new in Christ. This brings the mind to a place of worship, praise, gratitude, and joy. Far from your mind being a prison of doubt, anxiety, or a foggy room of interrogation, the Bible commands you to consider yourself as alive in Christ and to present yourself as such to Him, safe in the gospel.
3: Consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.
Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us,
“and let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
God commands us to not only gather as a church but to consider how we will embolden and encourage one another to love along with good works in the church and then in the world. Think about how you will be a blessing to fellow Christians in light of how Christ has endlessly blessed you.
4: Consider birds and flowers.
Then we have Luke 12:24 and 27-28. This is where Jesus instructs us to consider and mentally reflect on birds and flowers.
“Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!... Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither labor nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You of little faith!”
Jesus dealt with His disciples' anxiety by telling them to consider birds and flowers theologically. God takes care of billions of birds daily in the world. Surely He'll take care of you. God takes care of flowers. They live, grow, and they're beautiful. But flowers will die in a couple of days.
God has eternally invested in us by giving us His Son, adopting us as His sons and daughters, and sealing us with His Spirit. Surely He'll take care of us. We don't have to be anxious or little in faith because we can consider how God our Father takes care of birds and flowers.
So consider these truths, my brothers and sisters. This is how you steward your mind well, see yourself rightly, trust God fully, and behold Jesus' beautiful sufficiency for us.
Your mental worries, stress, and anxieties often are not cases of overthinking, but too little thinking in the right direction.
But if we consider what the Bible tells us to consider, by God's grace and the power of the Spirit, we'll see a transformation in how we think and live following Jesus. This is how our minds become sanctuaries and not prisons – when we use them as the Bible calls us to, and think about what the Bible tells us to think about. Consider these things, my friends, and love the Lord your God with all your mind, with joy in your hearts.
