By Pastor Doug Cox
 
If you have been around Crossroads for even a short amount of time, you know one of the things we encourage everyone to do is read their Bibles. The reason? Because if you don’t know what the Bible says it will be very easy to get off track spiritually.
 
A person’s spiritual life begins after being born again. That happens when they receive Jesus as the Lord of their life. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:” (John 1:12 NKJV) After that you must feed your newborn spirit with the Word of God. The apostle Peter says, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” (1Peter 2:2 NKJV)
 
The apostle Paul writing in Philippians 2:5 says to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV) The NIV reads “in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” I like how the Legacy Standard Bible says it, “have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”
 
The truth is, we can’t think like Jesus thinks if we don’t know what He says from His Word. Many churches focus on things like serving Christ, sacrificing like Christ, leading like Christ. All of these things are important and good, but the reality is, to do these things well we must think like Christ thinks.
 
The mindset of Christ is opposite of the world. Worldly people think that success comes from climbing the ladder, seizing power and making sure they are recognized. Jesus descended from heaven, let go of His power and was satisfied to live in obscurity. Through all of that, God worked mightily through Him and accomplished His Divine will.
 
Those seeking godly transformation must realize it comes through more than just effort alone, Romans 12:2 tells us to, “… 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. (NKJV)
 
So, the question is, who cares what you think? Every Christian who has a desire to grow and mature in Christ should say, “I do.”  Each of us should say “I need to take care of what I think” and maybe we should pray something like this. Lord give me a hunger for Your word, the ability to retain it and help me be more interested in proving what is Your perfect will for my life, rather than proving how important I am to the world.