The Spiritual Mindset

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2).

Even though “affection” is quite a good and strong rendering in the verse above, the Greek word “phroneo” is a little more practical. It means to set your mind or your thinking; an activity of the mind; how your mind works.

It originates from two words; one meaning, “To reign in,” like you say, “I’ve got to reign this fellow in” that is, to bring him under control. The second word means, “To block in or fence in.”

Thus, the admonition to set your affection on things above means to have control over your mind and consciously set your thinking on spiritual things. Remember that the things you think about are the things that will control your actions.

For example, you may have been wrestling with certain habits; habits that affect the way you serve and live for the Lord; habits that reduce your effectiveness and efficiency. You might have prayed about it, yet, nothing seemed to have changed.

It’s not so much about prayer as it’s about the use of your mind!

Your mind is a very powerful machine; you can twist or control it any way you choose. So, what you must do is to first, consciously refuse to think on those things you know aren’t wholesome, and deliberately focus your mind on the Word.

Practise exercising your mind through conscious thought. If, for whatever reason, an unwholesome thought comes to you, say, “No,” and then, switch your mind to something excellent; to the Word.

Don’t be surprised if such thoughts creep in again; resist it and repeat the process. James 4:7 says “…Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” God knows what’s in the devil, and He tells us if we resist him, he’ll flee; that’s got to be the necessary result!

Exercise your mind to develop a liking for spiritual things; exercise your interests in the things of God. Attend church services. Study and meditate on the Word. Maintain a robust prayer schedule. Win souls. These are spiritual activities to consciously engage in, in training yourself to “reign-in” your outward man!

Those who grew up in homes where their confession was at variance with the thoughts in the opening text may have had it difficult to cultivate the kind of mentality Paul exhibited.

They might have grown up listening to their parents say, “I can’t do this,” or “I can’t do that”; “there’s no money,” or “we don’t have enough.” But you see, this is the Spirit’s desire for you: to cultivate the “I can do” mentality.

That’s the way I think.

Whatever God has laid for me to do, I can do it. I can do anything; I can have anything; I can!

In Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, we read of his beautiful, Spirit-inspired testimony of himself. He had come to terms with the truth that the ability to do the impossible was at work in him and that he was solely responsible for the extent to which that power in him worked.

Notice that he didn’t say, “We can do all things…”; rather, he personalized it; this was his very own testimony.

He made a confession that the ability of the Spirit had been granted him to achieve supernatural exploits in life.

This same Apostle, in Ephesians 3:20-21, writes, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

Practise this. You might even make a lot of mistakes, but don’t be discouraged; that doesn’t mean anything, because you’re still learning; soon enough you’ll perfect it.

Someone might say, “I don’t have sufficient time to achieve the things i want to do,” no! When you practise making the “I can do” confession, such things will be totally eradicated from your vocabulary and therefore, your system.

Rather than saying you don’t have time for this or that, keep your composure, knowing that the God who lives in you is the owner of time.

In Joel 2:25 (MSG), He said, “I’ll make up for the years of the locust, the great locust devastation—Locusts savage, locusts deadly, fierce locusts, locusts of doom….” If He can restore wasted years, He can restore wasted months, wasted weeks, wasted days, wasted hours, wasted minutes, wasted seconds, and wasted moments. Hallelujah!

In Romans 12 verse 2, the bible says “And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God.

He says, be not conformed to this world, because He doesn’t want us to think nor act like the rest of the world. He wants us to be different. That’s why He says ‘be not to conformed to this world but be transformed.’

Romans 12 verse 2, the bible says “And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Then He tells you how to have that transformation, by the renewing of the mind. This means changing your way of thinking through the word of God. Let the word of God give you a new mindset. Let the word of God control your values, your ideas, your opinions, your choices. There are a lot of people who have their own opinions.

They have their own set of values that are not governed by the word of God. But as God's children, we are new creations in Christ Jesus.

We belong in a different kingdom, God’s Kingdom; and the life that He’s given us to live is different from that known by the rest of the world. But if you are carnally minded, you will act and think like the world.

God wants us to be spiritually minded. He wants us to think like Him; like those who are in His Kingdom. So He says not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. You renew your mind through the word of God.

Then only can you think differently and in consonance with how God wants you to think; through His word. If we study the word of God, we will have His way of thinking, His mindset. And we will see things from God’s perspective. That’s what He wants.