Redirecting Your Thoughts, Part 2

Now that we understand that the pain and hard work invested into spiritually pampering our mind will produce life-giving, beautiful Christlike fruit, the question begs to be asked: How do I go about pampering my mind?

We’ve all experienced the dismay of looking at a mirror and finding a foreign object wedged between our teeth, or a smudge of who-knows-what across our cheek. Our mind races through the previous few hours, disturbed at the thought of how many people saw our unsightly condition! Before that moment we were quite content with a different mental picture of our external appearance; the mirror revealed truth. How true that is in our spiritual life, too!

So often we effortlessly breeze through the routines of life with a very positive view of how we are reflecting Christ to others. But God—through His Word—has a powerful way of revealing Himself and all His wonderful attributes (II Corinthians 3:18), simultaneously exposing (with love and grace) what mars our own reflection of Him. Allow the Spirit to uncloud your view of yourself so that your reflection through God’s Word might be true (Psalm 139:23-24), thus revealing flaws that need to be addressed.

Flaky nails, ragamuffin hair, tense shoulders, tight skirts (that didn’t get that way after mistakenly being put in the dryer!) present an unpampered appearance. To make the changes—and I know this sounds basic—you must first decide to do something about it. It’s pointless to look at a mirror if we refuse to address the flaws it reveals! Even before devising a plan to determine the cost (money and time) and/or the pain level and self-sacrifice necessary to make changes comes the definite decision to implement that plan. This is true in a Christian’s life, too. Once the Lord reveals—through His Word—any outward symptoms of a spiritually unpampered mind, we must determine to do something about it. So much of the Christian life begins with an “I will” mentality. It’s not a matter of waiting until “the timing is right”, or you “feel up to it”. Look in Psalm where David determines to spiritually pamper his mind. Though his enemies sought his life, his son staged a coup and his best friend/advisor betrayed him—all situations far outside our scope of comprehension, yet the feelings of anger, sadness, hurt, confusion, bitterness, grief are all-too-familiar—David determined that:

Is bitterness the flaw that hinders Christ from being seen in you? Determine to forgive. Is it gossiping? Decide to speak edifying words. Has God’s Word revealed the outward fruit of ingratitude? Make the choice today to exhibit an attitude of gratitude. Determine today to do something about your Spirit-revealed flaws.

To be continued…steps three and four coming soon!