Repentance Reflects Your Mindset
Not Your Knowledge
Before we begin, a clarification.
When I mention the word spirit, I’m not talking about a personal being, like the Holy Spirit or a demonic spirit or even the human spirit. I’m talking about attitude, perspective or outlook.
In a word, mindset.
Your personal spirit is the core of your being. Your attitude reveals which way your spirit is leaning. Attitude is the barometer of how well you’re doing spiritually.
Attitude and spirit are, of course, inalterably connected but they aren’t the same. When people cheer loudly and excitedly at sporting events, they are said to have lots of spirit but that expression of spirit is different to the personal spirit from which it derives in the same way thoughts are different to the brain.
I’m focused on your attitude, not your personal spirit.
A Short List Of Spiritual Attitudes
The adjectives we ascribe to people are usually descriptions of their spiritual nature.
A person can be:
- High-spirited meaning enthusiastic and energetic.
- Low-spirited meaning depressed or disinterested.
- Mean-spirited meaning unkind, cruel, etc.
- Generous-spirited meaning cautiously open.
There are other expressions of spirit but you get the idea.
But when we say humans have a spirit, what are we talking about exactly.
What Is A Personal Spirit
A quick explanation is necessary.
Humans have three elements to their being:
- Body – which enables them to relate to the physical world.
- Soul – which is comprised of three things: mind, emotion and will. Animate beings, humans and animals, have souls. A soul enables us to relate to other animate beings.
- Spirit – enables us to relate to God and to consider non-material ideas like love, morality and justice.
The third element, spirit, is what separates us from every other sentient being.
Animals, like humans, have minds, emotions and wills, but they don’t have a spirit. They don’t express outrage at injustice. As far as we know, they don’t even understand the concept.
Animals don’t research important topics and write books disclosing their findings. They aren’t philosophical.
Moral justice is characteristic only of humans. We have a spiritual nature and when expressed, it usually comes with attitude and that can be good or bad.
We believe in things we can’t see with the naked eye or touch with the hand, like God or gravity. Explaining ourselves is necessary because the only lever for an idea is an argument. Crow bars can’t be used but when arguments fail, we resort to insults, threats, manipulation and sometimes force.
Nothing is more frustrating than others not being convinced by your finest argument.
Our personal spirit feeds off truth – what is right, what is wrong, what is genuine, what is real – but truth isn’t inherent. We learn it, we’re taught it and often we don’t get it right.
And even when we get it right, the mindset can be wrong.
I would say you’re correct if you think smoking is unhealthy, and therefore wrong. In that case, you have the right idea but if you force it on everyone around you, you have the wrong mindset (spirit).
You can legislate age limits and locations on smoking but you can’t eliminate it completely. That’s a personal decision individuals must make for themselves.
It’s only a bad spirited person who tried to force ideas on everyone.
Bible Evidence Of A Bad Spirit
The Bible mentions the spirit of slumber (Isaiah 29:10) and warns us against adopting an angry spirit (Proverbs 29:22). We’re also cautioned not to be ignorant, stubborn, fearful or deceptive, all spiritual mindsets to avoid.
The Gospels warn us to avoid a judgmental spirit but we have to be careful. Unlike the previously mentioned spirits, judgment is not a sin and must be differentiated from judgmental. I’ve written about that here.
Judgmental is an attitude problem to avoid.
When Jesus chose the twelve Apostles, He named the brothers James and John, the sons of thunder (Mark 3:17). It isn’t immediately apparent why He did this but later in the Gospels it becomes clear.
Jesus was traveling through Samaria on His way to Jerusalem but the Samaritans refused to receive Him because He was headed to Jerusalem. The friction between the two communities probably motivated their rejection.
James and John couldn’t let this slide and asked Jesus if they could call fire down from heaven to consume the Samaritans. They assumed the Lord felt the same way but the way Jesus responded shows they were miles apart.
Jesus didn’t just give them an answer, He accused them of having the wrong spirit and being ignorant about it.
He turned and rebuked them and said, you don’t know what spirit you are of. (Luke 9:55)
They had a bad spirit, obviously, but that wasn’t all. Jesus made it clear that they were delusional. They didn’t even realize they had the problem.
God’s Truth Is Absolute, Religious Truth Is Not
Having a personal spirit gives humans the ability to commit to ideologies in ways no other form of life can. We commit to beliefs and even make sacrifices for those beliefs.
For the record, a belief is something you can’t prove. The more strongly you believe something, the more frustrated you are when others don’t get it.
Many believe in democracy. Many have died for it. It’s still an experiment.
But how do we handle disagreements?
James and John were committed to their truth, not God’s truth and there are many Christians like that today.
People who commit to the truth they’ve been taught – that may be wrong – must trade adamance for caution. It’s ok to adamantly commit to your truth as long as you don’t require others to do the same. Forcing a truth which really can’t be substantiated may seem well meaning but that can lead to a lot of damage.
All kinds of mayhem has been justified in the name of apparent truth. The Oklahoma bomber, Sept. 11, the Unabomber and more are examples. In all of those cases, both the “truth” and the attitude were wrong.
God’s Truth Is Served Best By The Right Spirit
But what if the truth you serve is correct? Are bad attitudes and injury justified then? Apparently not, according to Jesus.
We can’t say whether James learned the lesson or not because he was martyred in Jerusalem in the early years, but John did learn the lesson well. He famously wrote about this very thing.
Believe not every spirit but test the spirits to see if they be from God. (1 John 4:1)
He also mentioned “love” multiple times in 1 John which means he was a changed man. His moving from fire and thunder to love represents quite a mindset shift.
Two Aspects To Spirit
When discussing or reading about “spirit” we have to be sure we know which one we’re talking about.
Is it personal spirit or mindset?
Talking about truth is one thing. That’s a discussion. The attitude you have toward the truth you embrace – or what you understand to be the truth – is something different.
Mindset Is Developed
Mindset is shaped by your surroundings. Family and social circles help form your attitude about the world. If you were raised to think certain words are swear words and should never be used, two things are true.
You avoid using those words yourself and you view anyone who does with suspicion. You might even flinch every time someone uses the worst of these words.
And we extend the judgment beyond just words. The people who use them freely become objects of judgment and distrust. They must be bad in other ways if they use these offending words so easily and often.
Mindset Is The Focus
The argument here has nothing to do with encouraging or discouraging the use of swear words. The point is everyone has a mindset shaped by their experiences and whatever your mindset, it may need to be modified.
Your attitude must be exposed to the teachings of Jesus in the same you mind is and He said some interesting things about the words we use.
Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven. . .Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him. (Matthew 12:31-32)
He wasn’t teaching us to start swearing. He wasn’t suggesting swear words were OK. He was warning us not to be judgmental about those who use them. He was teaching us to adjust our attitudes.
You might not like certain words. You might avoid them yourself. You might even humbly request others not to use them too freely in your presence but according to Jesus, you have no right to judge them if they do.
Jesus also said, “Judge not that you be not judged,” (Matt. 7:1).
Change The Attitude
You can make your feelings known but only with the right attitude.
If offensive words bother you, ask others nicely, in a humble way, not to use them or at least restrict how much they use them. You can even make arguments for not using those words at all. That’s fair as long as you do it with the right attitude.
God isn’t worried about anyone’s words. He’s concerned about hearts and your responses must take that into consideration.
You can’t assume a judgmental posture about their words or anything else in their lives because you are offended.
It’s important to note that we aren’t born with a judgmental mindset. It’s shaped by experiences and relations from an early stage. The good news is it can be adjusted, at least according to what we read in the Bible.
And if you change, it doesn’t mean you start using those words. It means you’re less insecure about it when you hear them and less judgmental toward the people who do use them.
This is true for everyone, even Christians. A person’s disposition, once set, doesn’t change easily, but it can change.
Born Again Doesn’t Change This
Born-again changes some things immediately and permanently but it doesn’t change everything automatically. Some things are changed for us, others not.
At the moment a person is born anew, they receive a new heart that can never be changed and that new heart gives new options but theres no guarantee. New Christians are babes in Christ and are on a journey to learn and mature (Ephesians 4:13).
The new heart – also known as a new nature – never goes away and never changes but living and acting in accordance with the new heart is a choice and involves information as well as mindset.
That’s why the Bible tells us to put on the qualities associated with the new nature (Ephesians 4:20-31, Colossians 3:1-12). Going to bed one night in one state of mind and waking up the next day in another isn’t what we should expect.
Learning what attitudes matter to God and doing what it takes to adopt them is what the Bible teaches.
The Bible Is Focused On Attitudes
It’s interesting that in the Colossians passage, the one I noted above, actually describes the appropriate mindset.
Clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (Colossians 3:12)
Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love. That’s quite a list and all of them are expressed through attitude. Ephesians tells us to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving (Ephesians 4:32). Again, those are attitudes and Ephesians also makes a very straightforward statement about mindset.
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. (Ephesians 4:23)
That echos Romans 12:2 (Be renewed in the spirit of your mind). Neither is talking about information. Both are focused on attitude.
Teaching What Is Right And Wrong Is Only Half The Job
It’s not possible to live in this world and not take up beliefs about right and wrong. It’s our nature but it is also true that not everyone will agree with your conclusions. Not everyone has the same perspective on right and wrong.
And those who disagree with you need to be respected even when they disagree.
That isn’t, however, the religious mindset.
Religion teaches what is right and wrong and then insists that everyone live by the right/wrong rules they lay down. “Live and let live” doesn’t factor into the work they do.
If you want to be a member, you must comply.
Religion isn’t happy only to make an argument. Once the argument is made, if compliance doesn’t follow, they’ll force the issue.
What I’ve just said applies to all religions. It’s not a Baptist thing or a Lutheran thing or an Anglican thing. It applies to them all.
If you’re looking for the truth, that’s great. And I’m sure you’ll find the basics. What you won’t find is absolute agreement on all issues across the board and that’s OK.
Adopt the right mindset and you’ll find a way to keep the discussion going.
THINK!AboutIt
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