REFLEX vs. CHOICE

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Philippians 2:4–6 (KJV)Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

What it is speaking to me:

Growing up with a brother, you beat on each other a lot. We were always pushing, smacking, and hitting each other. Not in anger or trying to cause pain (most of the time), more just typical boyish horseplay. There was a season where we were always coming up behind each other and either kicking or hitting each other on the rear end. We hit each other there so frequently that it became a reflex: whenever we were around each other, we would defensively throw one of our hands behind us to block the impending attack, without even thinking about it.

That is how reflexes work. Something occurs so often that you have a reflexive action before thought. And it takes work to train it out, or to train our bodies to reflex in a different way.

We all suffer from a reflex that is bad for us. We receive this reflex at birth; it is an inherited trait: selfishness, inherited by sin. We have a selfish reflex, and it tends to come flying out of our heart and mind anytime something threatens it. A correction, a challenge, a seemingly rude or harsh interaction, a tone, a joke, or any number of other things can send this reflex out faster than my brother could get his hand to cover his backside from my kick. And it keeps the best God has for us out. It is scary how dangerous that selfish reflex can be.

So how do we get rid of this bad reflex? By "letting."

Paul said "let this mind be in you." "Let" is a word of permission. In this case it means two things:

One, that Jesus wants to put something in us, in this case selflessness, like He had.

Two, it is our choice, every day, whether we will "let" Him. A choice.

We have a choice between two options:

We can keep our old reflex. (Selfishness)

We can let Christ put in us a new mind. (Selflessness)

Choice is powerful. And it leads to powerful things.

What will you choose?

What is it saying to you?

What would have to change about your default mental posture for the mind of Christ to be in you?

What are we going to do about it?

You will have opportunity today to be selfish or selfless. Probably more than one. Choose selflessness. See what the Lord can do with people who have a mind like His.