Strengthening The Mind

 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13

The human mind is an amazing thing. It is both strong and weak. It is both fragile and persistent, both moldable and unchanging; both restricted and limitless; Most of all it is both predictable and unreadable because God designed it that way. He gave man a mind with freewill and choice, made in God’s own image. Our mind is a force in our life on earth (2 Timothy 1:7) “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Our mind must be sound, but we can’t achieve a sound mind without knowing how to properly use it and prepare it for the certain trials and tribulations we will endure. Failing to do so we risk falling into temptation as Peter did in (Matthew 16:21-23) The strength of our mind should never stop growing, but for it to grow we must continually be feeding it the word of God. The Hebrew writer gave instruction concerning this in (Hebrews 5:12-14) “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Our ever growing strength must always be accompanied with love as seen in (Colossians 3:12-16). Our mind should be strong and filled with love individually, this is true, but we can never underestimate the strength we can draw from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul addressed this with the church in Rome in (Romans 12:1-3,16) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” (verse 16) “Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.” We cannot and should not fool ourselves into thinking we can stand on our own, we instead must draw strength from our brothers and sisters in Christ as in in (Galatians 6:1-2)“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” We must work together and challenge each other to become stronger as shown in (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.And a threefold cord is not easily broken.” So in conclusion, we must never forget Christ who is the perfect example of  a strong mind, our Savior who came down to earth and died for us. We must always remind ourselves that our strength comes from Jesus and that if we live a life like Christ he will give us all the strength we need.