The seven deadly sins of self are fueled by self seeking thoughts. If we are serious about allowing God to crucify these self sins our thought life is what must be nailed to the cross of Christ. If we are not approaching our spiritual growth from the perspective of our thought life we are kidding ourselves and we are not growing as God wants us to grow. Consider that Christ commanded us to love God with all our heart, our soul and our mind! The mind is a thought machine and we can’t love God with our mind if we are thinking thoughts that are not pleasing to Him. We are to be thinking thoughts that are in God’s interest, not ours. This truth was powerfully revealed to the Apostle Peter when the Lord rebuked him saying:
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Mat 16:23
The context for this rebuke to Peter is very revealing. Jesus had been explaining to his disciples that He would go to Jerusalem and stand trial and be executed. Then, He would be raised from the dead. Jesus was explaining the reason for His life and ministry and the truth of who He was to the world. Peter did not like hearing this and said it should never happen. Peter’s rejection of this revelation prompted the Lord’s rebuke of Peter. Peter’s mind was on what he wanted – not what God wanted. Peter’s thinking on the matter seemed right to him, but his thoughts were in direct opposition to the will of God. This is an example of our own problem. We think thoughts that seem right to us, but they are not in the interest of God. Just as Jesus exposed the sin in Peter’s thoughts, the Holy Spirit must expose our sinful thinking so that we may see our thoughts as God sees them.
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