Weekly Devotional: August 5, 2026
GOD’S WORD
I Corinthians 2:16; Romans 12:2; Genesis 6:5; Proverbs 23:7
DEVOTIONAL BY
Major Ed Lee
Corps Officer / Conway, SC
DEVOTIONAL
Possessing the Mind of Christ
“A RENEWED MIND”
I Corinthians 2:16b
“But we have the mind of Christ”
THE MASTER’S USE
Thirty-six years ago, when I was a young man preparing to enter the School for Officer Training, I read a book by evangelist and writer Frances Hunter entitled, “Possessing the Mind of Christ.” That little book was essential in formulating my spiritual direction as I prepared myself for a lifetime of service and mission. Frances Hunter reminded me that the heart and the mind must be redeemed and cleansed for the Master’s use.
Many times, I have found myself saying, “I must get my mind straight about this issue,” or “my heart and my head need to be aligned with the will of God in this matter.” It is a truth to live by that “right thinking precedes right living.”
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to warn them about living carnal lives and thinking unspiritually. The natural man cannot align with the things of God without possessing the mind of Christ. Paul compares carnal and spiritual. The spiritual man’s thinking must be aligned with Christ. Paul asks the question that is a direct quote from the prophet Isaiah: “Who has known the mind of the Lord?” The answer is... “those who possess the mind of Christ.”
Please journey with me in this 4-part series entitled, “Possessing the Mind of Christ”.
A Renewed Mind – Romans 12:2b
A Sanctified Mind- II Corinthians 10:5
A Submissive Mind – Philippians 2:5
A Heavenly Mind – Colossians 3:2
A RENEWED MIND
Romans 12:2 – “Do 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. “
To possess the mind of Christ, our minds must be renewed. The apostle Paul explains in Romans 1: 28 – “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind...” Paul is describing those who live apart from God in their lives and those who have no desire to understand the things of God. The word debased means “reprobate,” complete and utter depravity. Apart from the redeeming work of Christ, our minds cannot be renewed.
In the Old Testament, we read in Genesis 6:5- “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart (imagination) was only evil continually.” It is inherent in all of us in our very nature to think of evil.
FEEDING OF THE MIND
The Greek is helpful here in understanding the word “mind” in the New Testament. That word is a noun and is translated as “the intellect, the seat of emotion and thought life.” My thoughts, emotions, and will must be redeemed and renewed.
Our minds are oriented to that which we focus on. My mentor and father, Major Al Smith, has admonished me for years that “whatever we feed our minds with, that is what we become!” The battle with the flesh is in the mind as well as the heart. Major Smith may well have had in mind Proverbs 23:7- “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he!”
Paul says it best in Romans 8:5 – “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” What have we set our minds on? “Oh God, deliver us from wayward thoughts and compulsions to wander from You in our minds!”
What does it mean to “set your mind”? When our minds are set, they are determined and focused. I believe there is always the temptation to dwell on things that will take our focus off Jesus. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day focused on external religion and the intense study of the scriptures. Appearance and adherence to the Law was their mindset. Jesus redirected their thinking upward and outward. He reminded them that their mind should be set on the Heavenly Father and their fellow Israelites. All godly action begins with the renewing of the mind. Right thinking produces right actions. Our actions are the fruit of our deepest thoughts.
Songwriter Geoffrey William Bullock wrote, “Lord, renew my mind, as Your will unfolds in my life, living every day, in the power of Your love.”
Novelist and poet Nikos Kazantzakis wrote: “I keep my brain wide awake, lucid, unmerciful. I unleash it to battle relentlessly so that, all light, it may devour the darkness of the flesh. I have no other workshop where I may transform darkness into light. “