Sooner or later, we all change our mind about something. But have we thought about allowing God to change our mind?
We should, author and speaker Kris Vallotton, senior associate leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, tells Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. And doing so can not only change our lives, but the lives of those we encounter.
“I have a neighbor, let’s say, who hates me,” Vallotton says. “And he says terrible things to me. He curses at me; he does terrible things to me. And I say, ‘OK, well, how does God think about that?’
“And then I go to Romans 12,” he adds. “God says, ‘Bless those who persecute you; love your enemies. Pray for those who hate you. Do good to those who do bad to you.’ And I tell myself, ‘OK, that’s how God thinks.’
“But then I go to 1 Corinthians 2 and I ask, ‘What is God thinking about my neighbor, John, who’s doing that to me?’ Vallotton continues. “And then all of a sudden, I tap into the Holy Spirit’s thoughts, God’s thoughts about John, my neighbor.
“And suddenly the Holy Spirit shows me John’s father was a pastor,” he says. “And he abused John, and he grew up with incongruence. From the podium, John’s dad said one thing, but he did a different thing at home, and on and on.”
At this point, Vallotton says he realized “The Holy Spirit just showed me not the principles that God thinks, but actually what God’s thinking about John. … So when John sees me, he sees me as his father who abused him. And now I can be effective in ministering to John because I actually know what God’s thinking.”
Vallotton says we need not only to allow God to renew our minds (Rom. 12:1-2) but to learn to access God’s thoughts through the power of the Spirit: “God can airdrop His thoughts to me, so to speak.”
For much more from Kris Vallotton about how the Holy Spirit can transform your mind and your life, listen to the entire episode of Greenelines here, and check out Vallotton’s new book, Spiritual Intelligence. Make sure to subscribe to Greenelines on your favorite podcast platform so you don’t miss inspiring, informative stories like this one! {eoa}
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