One Mind

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

ONE MIND

2 Cor 13:11-14

11 Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints send their greetings. 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

NIV

Now we must consider what it means to listen to his appeal about being of one mind and living in peace. These two are somewhat of a hand-in-glove situation. If we are not of one mind it would be very difficult to live in peace with one another. When we think of all the non-peaceful coexistence in this world, we must also think of each side having their own mind regarding every aspect of life. Wars are fought because no one is of one mind. However, Paul is making this appeal to the church, where there should be no wars, but it would seem because of his appeal there were many who were not of the same mind which corrupted the living in peace. Where there might be a problem is trying to figure out as to whose is the one mind we should be of. Even in a marriage, the two should be of one mind and we know that is not always the case, as many marriages are ended over whose mind should be the one mind. Churches have divided over the same dispute as to whose mind is the one. But the fact is that the one mind we should all be of is the mind of Christ. How would Christ handle this? What would Jesus say? How would Jesus think? Of course, He did say that He did not come to bring peace to the world, but division. He said that with five in a family two against three and three against two. But this is all about who accepts Him and who does not. In one family, one member may accept Jesus and the rest are against Jesus, how then can they be of one mind, and live in peace. Even in a family as in a church, when all know Jesus, there can be some discord because of not being completely of the one mind of Christ. It would seem there can be many mini causes of being more than of one mind, but the one which stands out the most is selfishness. We usually want our own way most of the time. We usually think others should do things our way and think about things the same way we do. We take jabs at one another in an effort to get them to do what we think they should do. Preachers can be susceptible to this and that has been one of the warnings Paul gave the Corinthians about, false preachers. Those who manipulate the people for their own benefit. But It happens within marriages and within the church itself. Again, we want it our way or no way at all, and we will not live peacefully with those who disagree with our way. However, the solution is to have the mind of Christ. That is the key to all of it. How would Jesus do it? What would Jesus say? What would Jesus respond? What would Jesus think about this situation? If we are submitted our selves to Him, if we are offering ourselves, which is what our bodies imply, as a living sacrifice, which is our spiritual act of worship, then we would all be of the mind of Christ, and we would live in peace with each other. We know that sounds idea, but that is the truth, and how do we accept living otherwise? That may be the war that wages within, the war of offering ourselves, our mind, soul, spirit, and strength, allowing Jesus to take charge of all we are, all we say, and all we do.