A Purpose Driven Life Chapter 23 - Transformed by Thought
Chapter Overview: Getting the mind of Christ? If I recall correctly, the point that Rick was trying to get across in this chapter was that we can't start to act like Jesus until we change how we think. He used the example of a boat on autopilot - if it's programmer to go east and you try and turn it to go west, you can succeed for a while but its going to take effort to resist going east and as soon as you let go it's going turn back to going east again. The autopilot needs to be reset.2011 (40 years old)
Just like us - we need our minds reset as willpower will only get us so far in transformation. Like Romans says 'be transformed by the renewing of your mind.'. After making that point Rick wrote about how he believed that a big part of having the mind of Christ was being aware and thinking of others first. A sign of growth and maturity is not being self centred in our thoughts, but putting god at the centre of them.
2016 (45 years old)
How we grow. It's never too late to start growing. What is one area where I need to stop thinking my way and start thinking Gods way? Finances? Being a dad? I like how he talked about growth as a combined effort between us and God - we work things out and He works on us. The whole autopilot analogy was good as well. So important to set our minds above, but hard to do when in my work (Information Technology) I have to use my mind 8 hours a day. Its rather cerebral. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. I think what I said in my Aug 30 journal entry goes along with this well. How much should I let my emotions and attitude be dictated by how I physically feel or look? Probably not much, but it's truly a mental battle.Journal entry... Aug 30, 2016
Doing the first meetup today at the central library. We'll see who shows up and how it goes. I've been feeling tired. Read that verse again in Col. 1 about 'having the strength that God gives'. How much should I let my emotions and attitude be dictated by how I physically feel? Probably not much.
Note on my journal entry above: I wanted to start a 'Meet Up' in downtown Calgary where people interested in talking about the Purpose Driven Life could meet over lunch and discuss it. I rented a room in the public library and waited. Several people had indicated that they were interested in coming and had RSVP'ed, however when the time came, no one actually showed up. It was a bit discouraging, but a learning experience on several levels at the same time.
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