Climbing the Learning Curve, Part Two

In theology circles, argument is made whether Paul wrote the last part of Romans 7 describing himself as a Christian, or this was his struggle as a non-Christian. Because of the record in Acts that said he was persecuting Christians before he met Christ, I’m of the opinion that he wrote this after he was saved. He didn’t seem to struggle with sin before that.

After a few sentences about his fight with himself over not being able to do what he knew was right, yet doing sinful things that he didn’t want to do instead, he said,

But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:17-25)

My other reason for thinking he was a Christian when he wrote this is that every Christian I know has the same struggle. I know in my mind what God wants from me, and in my mind I want to do it, but my body will not cooperate. Sometimes my mind will not either. That is why Paul also wrote:

Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. (Ephesians 4:23)

The Bible tells me that when I become a Christian, God gave me a new mind, the mind of Christ. However, I’m not automatically able to think His thoughts. While I immediately experienced many new attitudes, I often faced life’s challenges by habitually turning to my old patterns and got into trouble because of it.

Since then, I know that learning to think like Jesus means learning to know what He is thinking. It also means being able to recognize which thoughts are from Him. Over the past years of being His child, I’ve been rebuilding my mind and trying to fill it with good stuff. The Word of God is always the starting place.

The Bible offers so much on mind renewal and advice on how to think in certain situations. It also offers direction on how to think when nothing much is happening. For instance,

Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Meditation is not easy for a mind that is continually looking for new information. This is a trait of my spiritual gift, and sometimes annoying. I once took a book to an NHL game, not because the game is boring (I like hockey) but because it didn’t give me enough to think about. Of course the razzing I got ensured that I never did it again, but this illustrates my struggle. I seldom review the past, which might be a good thing in my case. Instead, I forge ahead without learning much from my mistakes.

Yesterday I considered how my eyes and body are tired in the evenings. At that point, my mind often shifts into neutral too, but the only way to accommodate a neutral mind is by going to sleep or by watching television. (Isn’t that the truth!) This happens when it is too early to go to bed, but my eyes are not up to reading or doing close work. I can watch television and even engage my mind, but thinking while watching TV is hard work so I don’t. This is not a good thing; there isn’t much on the tube that falls into the noble, just, pure, lovely categories. So I’m stuck puttering about and start feeling hungry.

I am asking God to show me why I want to eat when I am full from supper. Today He offers this clue: my mind is never tired and if I try to treat it like it is by watching television or otherwise, it protests. For some reason as yet unclear, it starts sending me “feed me” messages, but instead of realizing this is the voice of a bored mind and feeding it, I head for the frig.

I need another solution for this overactive mind, and while I have lots of ideas, I need to wait for God to give me the solution He has in His mind. In the meantime, I’m still reading Scripture and still working hard to practice the art of thinking about what I’ve read.