Start With Your Mind!
"Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 2:5
It was a nineteenth-century Englishman, Charles Colton, who
left us this oft-quoted aphorism:
“Imitation is the sincerest form
of flattery.” While flattery isn't
biblical, wisdom and success are.
The apostle Paul knew that young Christians can gain wisdom
quickly by having good models: the apostles (Philippians 4:9)
and Christ Himself (Philippians 2:5).
What was it that Christians were to imitate? In Christ, it was His
humility of mind and heart. In the apostles, it was their minds that
were centered on things that were true, noble, just, pure, lovely,
of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). Jesus
humbled Himself by leaving heaven and came to earth as a man.
So, Paul’s exhortation is obvious: We should humble ourselves
and serve one another just as Christ did.
It begins in the mind. When we consider to think about
what Christ did in order to serve us, such understanding
motivates us to imitate Him. Paul exhorted the
Roman
Christians to renew their minds as a way of
discerning
the will of God: Christ-likeness (Romans 12:2).
Fill your mind daily with the Word
of God in order that your life might
become an imitation of His.
