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Read Introduction to Philippians

 

“Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”

 

“have this mind”

Now Paul turned to the reason he wanted the Philippians to mature. Only mature Christians can carry mature attitudes. The Philippians were hurting each other. The bitter battle went on so long they developed negative attitudes toward each other. When a sin reaches the attitude stage, it is much more difficult to correct. It takes maturity in God’s Word to change an attitude. A momentum of the application of truth to experience will correct deeply rooted negative attitudes.

The word “mind” is the word attitude (cf. Php 2:5). This phrase is an invitation to the mature Philippians to realign their thinking orientation.

A manifestation of whether we have reached maturity is whether we change attitudes and actions. Paul challenged our attitudes.

If we keep tabs on the making of our lives, we can measure our growth. For example, the attitude “joy” can characterize the Christian life. Joy is not happiness. Happiness depends upon circumstances. Joy is an inner animation of the soul regardless of circumstance. Joy is independent of circumstances. An immature Christian is a slave to his/her circumstances. If circumstances are favorable, they are happy. If not, then they go down with the circumstance. Their lives undulate like a roller coaster. There is no attitude of joy.

A stable attitude comes from the application of truth to experience. This allows us to break loose from circumstances. A mature attitude means someone you love can jilt you, but you will still have resources to stabilize you in the loss. A mature believer moves above circumstance.

PRINCIPLE: 

A biblical attitude is a habit of thinking as God thinks. 

APPLICATION: 

Thinking as God thinks will displace negative attitudes. It will make us independent of the circumstance. Are you independent of your circumstances? Do the setbacks of your life control you? Are you controlled by hurts others have perpetrated upon you? Are your attitudes formed from Scripture rather than experience?

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