2022_05_02 Insight Post- Kim Feld

  -   May 2, 2022

This week’s reading- 1 Corinthians 1-2

Today we begin Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth. This letter was likely written around AD 55 after Paul had spent time in Ephesus. First Corinthians is full of Paul’s straightforward instructions on how to live your life as a follower of Jesus and how to seek unity and love within the church.

As I read the first two chapters of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, the very last verse of chapter two stood out to me:

¹⁶ for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? This is not the only time Paul makes this reference. Let’s look at Philippians 2:5 – other translations word this a little differently, but I love the way the KJV records this verse:

⁵Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Many years ago, I went through two Dr. T. W. Hunt studies that significantly impacted me. Dr. Hunt passed away in 2014. He was known as a man of deep prayer, which led to his writing Disciple’s Prayer Life and The Mind of Christ, among other things. I still have my study guide from 1994, when it was first published. No, I don’t keep all the studies I have done. I only keep the ones that affect me deeply, like this one.

Dr. Hunt outlines six characteristics of the Christlike mind from the New Testament. They are:

• Alive (Romans 8:6, NASB)
• Single-minded (2 Corinthians 11:3, NASB)
• Lowly (Philippians 2:3, KJV)
• Pure (Titus 1:15, KJV)
• Responsive (Luke 24:45, NASB)
• Peaceful (Romans 8:6, NASB)

Through this study, Dr. Hunt shows what it would look like for the Christ-follower to possess these characteristics of a Christlike mind. The crucial ingredient is time spent in Jesus’ presence, learning from Him. Dr. Hunt dedicated a large portion of his day, every day, to prayer. We all get the same 24 hours every day. What would be revealed if you wrote down how you spent every moment of your day? What gets the most time and attention? If we want to be like Jesus, it takes time.