Christianity is not self-help behavior modification. Telling ourselves “do it, do it, do it” when we look at virtue that we don’t really want, or “don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it” when we look at sin we really do want, won't lead to anything good. It doesn’t. It won’t work. It’s what Paul calls “will worship.” It is a spiritless gospel. It’s precisely what Paul is attacking in Galatians when he says “how can you who started with the Spirit, now proceed in the flesh?”

No. That’s the first point—what Christianity is not. It is not trying harder on my own power to fight against the evil desires I crave. Fixing my behavior will only come about when I attend to what I actually want.

And that leads me to my second point. What Christianity is about is a Spirit-directed change of what I truly want, so much so, that living like Christ, wanting the kingdom and nothing else, welcoming the fruit-of-the-spirit kind of life becomes second nature. What we need isn’t a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” so I can be like Christ. What we need is the mind of Christ.

The sermon today is titled "Having The Mind Of Christ." The Scripture reading is from Philippians 2:1-5. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on July 24, 2022.

These lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is the 2nd in the 3-part series "Learning Christ," and is filed under Discover: A New Reality.

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