CHRISTIAN, IT IS NOT A SIN TO USE YOUR MIND
Introduction:
Many Christians fail to realise what a vital resource their minds are. They have been convinced that it is unspiritual, in fact, sinful to use their minds and so they allow this magnificent resource from God to waste.
They look for prophecies, words of knowledge and words of wisdom on every matter. They are persuaded that these revelations are the only reliable guides for their lives that they become a laughing stock repeating cycles of mistakes in the name of following divine guidance.
Discernment of spirits, a gift of the Holy Spirit, seems to elude many Christians today that they support the weirdest stuff and are misled by all sorts of tricksters.
Whether you have supernatural gifts or not, God has given you what you need to reason and make good judgments- your mind.
Three things brethren who chase supernatural messages should bear in mind:
1. Not all revelations are accurate or from God. There are so many voices speaking in the spirit realm and one can easily mistake the false for the true. The devil, the Bible says, disguises himself as an angel of light and his workers too (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
2. That someone gave you a right word or many right words from God in the past does not mean that everything they tell you must be applied in toto. Some words are just based on good intentions but they are presented as straight from God.
3. Not all prophecies have universal applicability. The prophecy that worked for Sister Gladys may not work for you.
Where your mind comes in
The Lord Jesus told us in Matthew 10:16 to be as wise as serpents. Some translations use the word “shrewd” or “smart” in place of “wise.”
What do these words mean?
According to the Web Dictionary, to be wise is to exercise “good judgment or common sense in practical matters,” to be shrewd is to be “marked by practical hardheaded intelligence,” and to be smart is to demonstrate intelligence, to be “clever or ingenious.” This mental attribute that Jesus commands you to put to use shows what a wonderful resource from God your mind is.
In 2 Timothy 1:7, the Bible reminds us that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a SOUND MIND” (emphasis, mine). In 1 Corinthians 2:16, we are told that “we have the mind of Christ.” Surely, God didn’t give us that mind to throw away!
Instead of despising and devaluing your mind, this is how you should use it.
4 ways Christians should use their minds
1. Renew your mind with the word of God.
“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.” – Romans 12:2 (KJV)
When you constantly feed and meditate on the Bible, it will sharpen your mind and help you to detect what is of God and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong.
2. Expose yourself to general knowledge too.
Learn about history, how the economy works, political and religious systems and their principal actors, etc. Knowledge of the world is very important as it helps us to understand emerging events and issues. This, in turn, helps us to have informed reactions to them. I believe that part of the reason Paul was a very effective apostle was his level of knowledge which made him able to preach to both Jews and Gentiles, and speak meaningfully to craftsmen and elite alike.
3. Do not be afraid to ask questions and investigate things.
If you don’t understand something or it doesn’t quite sit well with you, research it. You can start with Google. There’s a vast amount of information on the internet on every subject. Talk to your superiors too but don’t be cowed into accepting something simply because someone says so.
4. Practise critical thinking.
Learn to distinguish between facts and opinions, rational and emotional arguments, speculations and proven matters. This will help you weigh issues and make up your mind about them on the right basis.
Conclusion:
As long as you’re submissive to God’s Spirit and soaked in His word, your mind will be a good filter for what you see and hear and you will not be a constant victim of manipulation and deception by the devil and his workers. You will be able to evaluate matters properly and accept only what is right for you.
Scriptural references:
“… we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” – Ephesians 4:14
“Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.” – 1 Corinthians 14:20
“Buy the truth and do not sell it—
wisdom, instruction and insight as well.” – Proverbs 23:23
“The one who gets wisdom loves life;
the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.” – Proverbs 19:8
Thanks for this ma’am.
The world greatly relies on Christian’s to set it aright but if we fail to exercise our minds effectively we’d be making a grave mistake
True. God bless you!
Thank you very much ma. Indeed our minds have been made by God to guide us.
Consequently neglecting what the mind tells us is the neglect of oneself.
True. God bless you!
I believed all you said Ma, because God created man in his image and likeness, consequently, man can think critically more than other creatures. So weather spiritual revelation or not, man can solve his problems using his mind.
In regards to this, can problem solved using the mind be called CRITICAL revelation? Opposite to spiritual revelation?
😃😃😃
I know about critical reasoning, not critical revelation. The point is that whether there is revelation or not, your mind can work for you.
You are richly blessed in Jesus’ name.
This is a nice post, ma’am! I learned that we Christians should expose ourselves to general knowledge so as to acquire more understanding about issues and we should not be afraid to ask questions about what we are not sure of.
Right. Christians would be the smartest people around if we properly used our God-given mental capacity.
Thank you ma for this. The mind is one of the greatest gifts God has given us.
True.
Thanks for this, ma! It’s high time people understood that being a Christian doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use your mind. God already gave it to us for a purpose.
The mind is a tool God has given us, God is proud of us when we put our mind to effective use.
As Christians,we should be able to make our own decisions, we should not be cowed into accepting what we don’t want.
You have a certain way with words ma… Makes reading feel breezy.
Thank you and God bless you!
Religious extremists need to be referred to this post.
Another beautiful piece. Many Christians do not use their minds that much. To most Christians, as long as we know what is in the Bible, it is enough for them. Reading wide or having knowledge of other things is a no no for them which is very terrible.
When we look at the scripture, we see that Jesus had a wide knowledge of many things. His disciples too and we must learn to be like Jesus in all areas of our lives.
This is nice. Most times believers swallow their preacher’s word hukline and sinker not applying their own knowledge there by making deadly mistakes
We should always pray then follow what our mind tells us
There are two things I’ve learned from this post, one is what I think pastor Sam Adeyemi said which is, “God gave us brains so we can let him rest” and the second is our mind ought to be trained by the word and sound so that we are not tossed around by every wind of doctrine.
Just like you said our mind is a special gift from God,we shouldn’t allow our mind to be conformed to world things but feed it with the word of God(Scriptures of the Bible).
We must not always believe or accept every word that comes out from the mouth of an Apostle,Pastor,public figure simply because he is a prophet or an Apostle.
it’s a very unique write up and it teaches us how to use our mind the way God wants us to use it.
Our mind is our weapon
We should be responsible for the decisions we make, actions we take and reactions we give, and be ready to deal with whatever consequences or outcome. It is our freewill. Christian or no christian
Very important write-up. It’s imperative for we, as christians to use our minds
You said it all, Ma! The mind is one of the greatest tool the Lord gave to man. Renewing the mind should be a constant exercise every Christian should practise in order to discern and act wisely in every matter. Thank you so much, Ma.
This is very true, many Christians indeed fail to use their mind for critical thinking and reasoning.
God gave us the mind for a purpose! I hope some Christians that are still doubting get to know this.
Most Christians have refused to think for themselves and have left the work for their pastors forgetting we have the spirit of discernment. They often take their pastors words hook, line and sinker.
The fact that we are Christians does not mean we should be dumb or inept. Knowledge is power and having that power as a Christian in combination with the power given to us as children of the most high is a bonus.
This is one of my favourite piece! In all honesty, man no longer make use of his God given mind or head, we believe more in hearsay than having a critical thinking in our everyday activities. Thanks for this wonderful insight ma, more grace..!
As Christians we are to renew our minds with the word of God, expose yourself to general knowledge and not be afraid to ask questions and investigate things so as to practice good thinking. The mind is a good filter for what we see and hear and not be constant victims of manipulation and deception by the devil.
These days people mistake being smart as not being a believer
This Particular post goes a long way in enlightening people on the importance of using one’s mind
Yes I agree with this post! Many Christians have fallen prey to tricksters all because they believe so much in revelations and things like that. We Christian’s should have in mind that not all sayings or revelations are from God, we should learn to use our minds to analyze some things and some situations and not think that everything is spiritual or divine
I realized that we have the mind of Christ which means we should be able to assess and know what is good or bad.
Mind is a great weapon of human intelligence, therefore should be renewed with the knowledge of God.
Some churches have made it seem like Christians are not capable of logical thinking which is wrong, because we are smart and backed up by God.
Thank you ma for this exceptional master piece most people nowadays believe that the mind is unspiritual and it is sinful but what they fail to understand is that the mind us a special gift from God.
a) I learnt that when one neglect using their mind and rely exclusively on prophecies,one becomes vulnerable to manipulation and deception.
b). I also learnt that as long as you are submissive to God’s spirit and soaked n his word,your mind will be a good filter for what you see and hear and you will not be a constant victim of manipulation and deception by the devil and it’s agents.
What an inspiring piece. Our mind is one of the greatest gift that we have
Thank you ma, you have really opened my eyes
Tank you ma, this is a very unique write up as a Christian we need to do what is right not what our pastor or anybody want us to do the main thing is that you are doing the right thing.
We need to take admonishings from the Bible seriously, especially as pertaining to consulting people concerning our faith.
God has blessed us with wisdom and our mind to use in the best place possible, so we should not leave our fate in God to just a mere prophet from anywhere
Yes, ma!
A wise and intelligent God created our minds. Using it can even be a means to glorify him.
God blessed me with a my mind for reasoning, hence, I should also use it for His glory and for my endeavours.
God has given us the gift of our minds, and we should use it to its fullest potential, while seeking guidance and wisdom from the divine.