Wholeness is defined as the state of being unified, complete, and totally put together. Before Jesus Christ came to the earth to show us the way, the state of humanity was very much fragmented. The accomplishment of Jesus Christ made wholeness available, but we must strip off the things that keep us from it and replace them with the wholeness he offers. We do this by putting his thoughts in our minds and allowing his love to saturate our hearts. He doesn’t bust down those walls we’ve put up over the years until we extend him the invitation. That’s exactly what we do when we change our thoughts and open our hearts to him.
Some of us have forgotten that putting on the mind of Jesus Christ is a necessary and crucial step in a believer’s life. Our minds and hearts are parts of our souls, and they play a key part in our identities. A person can tell who you are and what you are about by the expression of your thoughts and emotions. As believers, God commands us in His Word to have the mind and heart of Christ. Our Master Jesus must be Lord over our thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and actions. In Ephesians 4:23, God commands us to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. This lets us know that our thoughts must be changed at the core, because the spirit of our minds is the very essence of our thinking. It’s our mindset, the whole framework that makes us operate the way that we do.
It shouldn’t be a secret to any of us that we are born into this world with some stuff that comes already baked in. With all the good things that we do, we must make room in our understanding that there’s also some stuff within that runs in the opposite direction of God’s love. There’s some dysfunction in the form of bad habit patterns and sinful nature that we learn from those who raised us, and there’s also dark tendencies that have been passed down through our bloodlines for generations. If we acknowledge and confront them, we can make room for God’s healing. But if you and I don’t address them, those tendencies will continue their destructive path of causing more damage to those that come after us. Through His infinite mercy and grace, God gives us an opportunity to strip off the negative, and this is achieved by changing the way we think, so that our minds imitate the mind of Christ.
Proverbs 23:7(KJV) says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” There are many different philosophies and belief systems out there. Some use this truth in God’s Word to support their theories. There are several movements in today’s society that are not based on the teachings of Christ, and indeed are antithetical to the truth, but even individuals involved in these antichrist movements understand the transformative power of thought. Our Heavenly Father created us in such a way that we can achieve wholeness in Christ mentally, emotionally, physically, and most importantly, spiritually.
Once we are born again and receive God’s seed, the Holy Spirit, we become new creations in Christ. 2Corinthians 5:17(NLT) says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” This new life is not one in which we get a piece of Christ here and a piece there. Colossians 2:10(NLT) tells us, “So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” The fullness of Christ dwells in the inner sanctum of our being. When we accept the salvation he freely offers and commit ourselves to walk by his Spirit, we in effect put on the newness Christ has made available to us. He doesn’t force us to do this. It’s our choice. The more we desire to be like, the more we’ll motivate ourselves to learn about him, and the more we learn about him, the more like him we can become.
The spiritual transformation that Christ offers isn’t contingent on how we feel, because if that were the case, hardly any of us would get anywhere. Our feelings vacillate constantly, but the reality of Christ is a solid foundation. We can’t control or alter what the Lord does, we simply must accept it and allow His Spirit to do what only the Spirit can do. The transformative work of Christ isn’t dependent on us being and acting perfect all the time. Salvation is a free gift from God. When we accept it into our hearts, He does the work. What’s our part in all this? Our part is to change the way we think, so that we increase our faith in God. He wants to show us His great love. He wants to prove His power and love not just to us, but through us.
Philippians 2:13(NLT) tells us, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Most of us have been trained our whole lives to rely only on our own effort and resources to achieve wholeness. We look to make ourselves whole through other people, relationships, and even possessions of wealth and materiality. None of these can bring us the wholeness we desperately need. James 1:17(NIV) says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” The power and blessings we need are included in everything that God has predestined and ordained our lives to be. This is where our focus should be.
The focus to be the best is heralded in every genre and platform in life. Every empathetic, intelligent, and creative person knows that being the best in whatever we seek to achieve is a driving force that equals progress. Being the best person God has created us to be equals progress towards His purpose, and there is no greater success that can be gleaned in life. This is the number one thing we should aspire to. It’s the path to truth, it’s the foundation that withstands any of life’s storms. Our focus is best served by focusing on the wholeness that Jesus Christ offers. We must build our confidence in him, because it is only through Christ that wholeness is achieved. ■
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Our Completeness and Wholeness in Christ”, written by JMack, theChristianMan.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.