SHIFT Your Mind

Learning to shift mindsets gets us un-stuck.

Chapter thirteen, of the book of Corinthians gives us a beautiful picture of what love looks like.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs..." 1 Cor 13:4-5

I remember reading this and thinking, "Love is...impossible". I had not been completely healed by Love, yet. I still carried shame and re-lived the pain of my abuse, constantly. I wasn't wrong, either. Without the power of God, we cannot love as He intended. It takes a decision to choose life, and an intentional renewing of our minds to carry out the commandment to love others as ourselves. It takes a conscious shifting from our own, carnal mindset, to God's.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways" 1 Cor 13:11

Maturing out of a childish mindset doesn't mean we don't have strong emotions. They are what makes us human and bond us to each other. Indeed, the Word says we are to become like children to receive the kingdom (Matthew 18:3). It is when our emotions and behaviors are blocking our ability to love; that we need to take a different approach. Being childlike is different from being childish. We are supposed to keep our childlike wonder and faith. We need to mature, so we can love as God does.

The verse describes a sequence of action (talking), thought (concept) and a reasoning (thought process). We mature out of a childish mindset when we reverse this sequence. When we reason first, to clarify our thoughts and then choose our action, we shift from flesh to spirit mode. We begin to think like an adult.

My husband taught our family to drive a stick shift. I have found this visual imagery to be an effective mind shifting tool. When I fine myself "stuck" in childish thinking, I locate the "gear" or present state I'm in emotionally, ask the Holy Spirit to help me and then choose a different thought process.

Shifting changes our speed (behavior) and direction.

Seen to unseen: Realize the spiritual warfare against maturity. To love is to obey.

History to the moment: Realize when we are stuck in thoughts of the past.

Impulse to intent: Choosing to think first, then act.

Fear to fortress: Children are naturally fearful. Choose Godly fear for wisdom.

Taught to teachable: Reject faulty, self-defense mechanisms and choose God's way, today.

Our enemy knows that loving is the highest form of wellness. He knows we cannot obey God if we do not choose his way to love others. The maturity mindset begins with awareness of the intense opposition against us. Shifting from the seen to the unseen realm, reminds us to fight the right fight, the right way.

Rehearsing the thoughts that keep us in the past, locks us in a helpless, childish state because there is nothing we can do about things that have already happened. We are powerless to change the past, but we do have power to choose new responses, today. We can learn from our experiences and choose to live in the present. God has an abundant life for us, now.

Developing the fruit of self-control brings true freedom because our flesh is no longer dictating our behavior. Using the bible as the basis for reasoning and decision making, then thinking clearly about what we want our actions to accomplish; puts our thought process in effective order.

When we choose Godly fear, we gain wisdom to follow His ways and not revert to learned, self-defense mechanisms that do not allow us to mature into confident, children of God. We lose the fear of suffering and choose behaviors that challenge and mold us to be who we were meant to be.

May the Holy Spirit guide you as you shift your mindset to the capable, compassionate, discerning mind of Christ.

All rights reserved Veronica Jimenez, Sound Mind Awareness ©2014.