The Bible calls us to “have the mind of Christ,” but what does this mean? Is the mind another word for the brain, or is it something bigger than biology? And what is Christ’s mind, and how are we supposed to “have” it?
When the Bible uses the word “mind”, it means something more than the brain, and something more even than the act of thinking. The Bible uses the word “mind” in a similar way to the way it uses the word “heart”; that is, the place where a person thinks, feels, and makes decisions. So when the Bible talks about the mind of Christ, it refers to the way Christ thinks, feels, and makes decisions. Often, this revolves around the notion of self-sacrifice. When Paul says “let this mind be in you which is yours in Christ Jesus,” he is talking about the call to put each other first, to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others, and to humbly serve in the same pattern that Christ did when he died on the cross.
This sharing of Christ’s mind is only possible because we have been united to him in baptism, in which he freely gives us his own “mind” by the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to think, feel, and make decisions in his power.
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