“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”   — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everything changed for us 1.5 years ago. We moved from our home of 37 years, from the city where we both grew up, to an hour north, starting a whole new life. “Whew!”, she exclaimed as her hand brushed her brow. I know…it’s only an hour away, and many of you have made much greater changes, so you will agree with this point: change is hard!

Change presents a problem, and problems tend to stop us in our tracks, even if only for a moment. When a problem stares us in the face, we are compelled to react in some way. We ask the question, What’s the right answer for this problem?

In our new church, one of the ways God has allowed me to serve is in counseling with those who come to the pastors seeking help. (To clarify, I’m not a licensed professional counselor, but family counseling was part of my seminary education and I’ve served the prior ten years on church pastoral staff, so education and experience are my credentials.)

Our church is all about people. When requested by an individual, in the vernacular of today, we get up in their business, we do life together, and everything we do is for the purpose of life transformation.

It’s a messy, beautiful thing! Messy because life can be messy, problematic and hard. Beautiful because living life in the Way of Christ makes all things new and beautiful in his time.

This week presents five different folks with five different problems, all difficult, some messier than others:

• She’s juggling college and two jobs. “I’m not sure I’ve chosen the right major. Should I change? Should I drop this class before the deadline?” She needs direction.
• This young lady is entrepreneurial, heading up a non-profit ministry that’s quickly gained an international following. She’s looking for wisdom.
• Another comes with long-term struggling in marriage, which filters down to the children, causing ill effects throughout the household. She is tired of the struggle. She wants to leave, but she desires truth. It will require perseverance.
• The fourth is distraught, overwhelmed and completely stuck due to an accident, injuries, loss of job, medical bills, attorney fees and so much more. It’s too much! She asks for clarity and practical next steps.
• This one was a prayer request, not a conversation: “Need some prayers. The enemy is striking again from so many angles. I’m exhausted of this…” She needs strength in the battle to stand strong.

Five different problems, five different answers? Yes, in practice, each one requires a different course of action in order to move forward and make progress. We grappled with their issues, figured out each best practice and walked away with the next step for this week.

Some will get help from other people or professionals, but all will do a certain amount of work within themselves. And here’s where the five different answers meld together as one: in The Interior Work.

The interior is where the groundwork is laid. It’s our core selves that determine our responses to everything we face. It is in our cores that we decide to let truth override emotion. It is in our cores that we admit we cannot handle life alone and commit to following someone bigger than ourselves.

There is 1 True Answer to every problem we face. Regardless of what we’re up against, this is the solution for every encounter. This answer is true and NEVER fails. This answer is always found when preceded by this question: “What is the Mind of Christ?” For the believer in Christ, this question is always accompanied by an answer.

When we view our problems through The Mind of Christ, we discover the best course of action in order to move forward. The Mind of Christ plays out in a myriad of actions, depending upon the problem in front of us. When our actions are undergirded with the attitudes of Jesus, our actions will be pure and right and effective.

Since this is a blog and not a full-on Bible study, you can find the supporting scripture in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, which informs us “we have the mind of Christ” — already! He poured his thoughts into our spiritual selves when we accepted Jesus. Let that soak in: we HAVE The Mind of Christ !

What is The Mind of Christ? Look in Philippians 2:5-8 for a pointed description of the attitudes and mindset of Jesus. If you are a visual learner, make a list of Jesus’ intentional thought processes. Next, do some “interior work” on yourself and ask, “What needs to change in my way of thinking in order to match up with Jesus’ way of thinking?”

If you want to go even deeper, continue your list with Jesus’ thoughts and attitudes in John 13-17, then evaluate your own thought processes.

My gracious, it’s a lifelong process to exercise The Mind of Christ!

But it’s always possible for the believer because it’s always there–already! LIke, my good friend, Ed says, “You can eat an elephant a bite at a time.” I began learning about The Mind of Christ in my 20’s, so I’ve been practicing for over 40 years, LOL! I haven’t mastered the art, but I find the more I practice, the faster it arrives at the moment facing a problem.

When a problem is staring me in the face, no matter what it looks like, I want The Mind of Christ to be my default answer. Defaulting to The Mind of Christ requires discipline to stop and search, then patience to pursue.

What tactics do you use to take action in The Mind of Christ? Share with us in the Comments below.