Our Default Mindset

This morning I was reading Paul's letter to the Roman's and was thinking about my default response to things that occur in my life.  Paul writes an interesting bit about being in the flesh or the spirit in his epic letter to the church in Rome.  Here are a few of the verses - Romans 8:5-11 NIV:

[5] "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. [6] The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. [7] The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. [8] Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God."

[9] "You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. [10] But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. [11] And if the Spirit of him who raised 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."

Paul describes here a default mindset, as in what governs us, how we respond to new situations, new challenges.  Looking at verse 6, the mind governed by the Holy Spirit is "life and peace".  In other words, if our base mindset is in line with the Holy Spirit our response produces life and peace inside of us, which allows this to flow out of us to those around us.  This is like the default settings in software programs, or our smart phones.  I set my default screen background so that when I open my phone, I am reminded of a trip I took to Scotland with my family.  This is what pops up first whenever I open my phone's screen.  In the same way, God wants our default mindset to be in line with the Holy Spirit so that our initial response to changes or difficulties exudes peace and life.

Paul is saying that we can have a default mindset, a mind governed by the Holy Spirit. Paul goes on to explain that if we have experienced salvation, if we belong to Christ, if we are hidden in Christ Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit within us, and this should be our default mindset.  If we have experienced salvation, then we DO belong to Christ,  we ARE hidden in Christ, and His Spirit DOES live within us, for those are all the result of God's work in us and are not dependent on our own actions.  That is really good news!

Now, I don't always live like  these things are true and that is my encouragement today, to allow my default mindset to be changed to be aligned with the Holy Spirit. I know that this must be possible to have my mindset adjusted, to have my default response to be inline with the Holy Spirit, for Paul describes it here.  So the question is how?

I was reminded of a verse from Isaiah 1:18 NIV:

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

I believe that this describes the staining effect of sin (choosing something other than God's will) in our lives.  God says that He will make us white as snow, and we know that He did this for us through His death and Resurrection.  But more than paying for our sins, He describes here an actual stainless condition, where it is no longer evident there was a stain at all.  That is amazingly good news... our sin does not permanently affect us.  We can become white as snow, unstained and unmarred.

I think part of my problem is that I don't fully believe at my deepest core, that I am loved, saved and truly God's son (all because of what He has done).  I think that is too good, that I don't deserve that kind of treatment.  I am choosing to view myself as stained, but the truth is that when God looks at me, He sees me  as unstained, much loved, His son on whom He enjoys having favor.  He thinks I am brilliant.  I need to reject the mindset that says I am anything less that what God says.  God calls this repentance, literally changing the way I think.

Lord, I recognize that I don't think correctly, that my default mindset is often not inline with You.  I ask You to help me to change my mind, to set my mind on Your Holy Spirit, that I might experience life and peace.