Holistic Health, part eight

Now we come to what I have identified as the most important element of the “Imago Dei.” Being like God is thinking like God! It is having His mind.

1 Cor. 2.16 says, …”but we have the mind of Christ!”

What do we mean when we speak of the Mind? The mind deals with the ability to communicate, use language, reason, and think. The mind, though probably housed in the brain, is not exactly the same thing. The brain is an organ, albeit a very important organ. And the mind is intimately related to this brain. But the brain is technically part of the body and ceases to function with bodily death.

The mind, however, continues to exist and function after death. Until then, our minds are stuck with our brains!

In the beginning, God created man so that children would learn about themselves, the world, and God from their parents. Since then, some have done this job better than others, but ALL have done the job!

Each of us developed our beliefs about ourselves, God, and the world as a process of our brains developing in interaction with our environment. Our minds were nurtured, one way or another, by our surroundings.

So what we believe is very important. It is at once fragile and resistant to change.

From General Revelation, we find that once people get a notion fixed in their minds, it is very hard to change. This is partly due to the fact that we ignore information that contradicts what we already believe. We also discount information that contradicts what we believe.

If I believe that women are bad drivers, I will only see accidents that involve women. I will not even notice accidents where men are involved. Or I will minimize driving accidents with men and maximize accidents with women.

If I believe I am stupid, ugly, inferior, I will resist any external messages to the contrary. We are even prone to discount the Scriptures.

Romans 8:1-4 says,” There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 8:3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

But many of us still walk around with guilt, fear, self-loathing, the pressure to perform, and go, and go, and go to prove ourselves worthy! We are completely ignoring this precious truth. Why? Because once we get a belief established, it hangs on like barnacles on the bottom of a boat!

More next time...