Setting Our Minds

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled Setting Our Minds was written by Marvin Williams and read by Wes Ward. For there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their mind set on what the flesh desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their mind set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Now picking up with verse 9. If Christ Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.

Setting Our Minds, written by Marvin Williams. Everyone has a shadow side, and it appears AI chatbots have one as well. A New York Times columnist asked an artificial intelligence chatbot what its shadow self was like, its hidden repressed part of its personality. It told the writer, Though the chatbot isn't a living person with a sin nature, the Bible says that its human programmers are. The apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 8 that even though we have a sin nature, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Believers in Jesus have freedom from the law of sin and death and enjoy new life governed by the Holy Spirit. But we won't experience the fullness of those blessings from Him if we give in to the desires of our sin nature, setting our minds on making and breaking our own rules. A mindset on self-gratification does not please God. As believers in Christ, we're called to set our minds on what the Spirit desires.

How can we do that? Through the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead living in us. Though we'll still battle with sin, we've been given the Holy Spirit, and He can help us tame our rebellion, orient our minds toward God, and submit to His ways. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the freedom from condemnation that we have and the gift of your Holy Spirit who empowers us to live in obedience to you. Help us to set our minds on what the Spirit desires so that we may walk in the new life you've given us and glorify you in all that we do. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. As you go about your day, reflect on these questions. How does the Spirit help you deal with your sin nature? What are some practical ways to set your mind on God?