It was our last day of class, but we had to pass our final. Our instructor entered the hospital classroom with a ten-pound bag of ice, a large mixing bowl, and a devilish grin. I sensed she enjoyed knowing what was coming while we curiously looked on. She didn’t say it out loud, but we figured she was separating us moms-to-be into two groups: those who could endure natural labor and those who should just go ahead and schedule their epidurals.
Our final exam before the actual test of labor was to submerge our hands into a bowl of ice for five minutes. Using the techniques we learned in class, we were to change our mindsets about our discomfort, breathe deeply, and relax into our contractions (oops…I mean, our “surges”).
At first, all I could think about was how the icy water felt like a thousand needles puncturing my skin and how each second ticked like an eternity. My neck, shoulders, and face betrayed my thoughts. I was not relaxed and could only think about how much I hated this exercise.
Then, I looked at my husband, who was also taking the cold plunge. His eyes were closed, there was no furrow in his brow, and he looked like he might be asleep. This, of course, ticked me off even more.
I realized I had two choices: let my husband beat me at an exercise designed to help me (the one actually going to go through labor) or put into practice what I had learned in class. Reluctantly, I decided to change my thinking about this (stupid) exercise and see if it worked. So, I leaned back, closed my eyes, and began to breathe.
Suffering that leads to victory
Whether delivering a baby or enduring persecution, no one submerges themselves in the icy waters of suffering and finds it pleasurable. Usually, we resist, avoid, or yank our hands away. However, the way we think about suffering impacts our actions and outcomes. If, when we are slandered and reviled for bearing the name of Christ, and we choose to think about it (and endure it) as he did, we can expect to enjoy the same victory he experienced—even if that victory is realized only in heaven.
When the apostle Peter wrote his first epistle, his original readers were exiles in Asia Minor who were suffering from severe persecution. He reminded them that Christ’s sufferings in the flesh made the great exchange possible. Being put to death in the flesh, Jesus traded his righteousness for our unrighteousness and made it so we could come to God (1 Peter 3:18). His suffering resulted in a triumphant victory over sin! As believers in Christ, we are empowered to adopt the same way of thinking and follow his example.
Did you know you can think like Christ? Peter said,
“Since therefore Christ has suffered in the flesh arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Peter 4:1).
Thinking like Christ, having the same mind as his, will result in a cessation or a break with sin. We will not become sinless in this life, but by his grace, we can sin less, bringing us eternal joy and triumph.
Our greatest enemy
But why is a break with sin important? Shouldn’t the mind of Christ result in more visible power displays? Wouldn’t it be better to see our persecutors fall or to see a Christian’s good behavior turn hearts and minds? Maybe the answer to those questions lies in our misunderstanding of how awful our greatest enemy, sin, really is. Sin is worse than evil, hell, or the devil himself.
Puritan Ralph Venning said,
“In general, sin is the worst of evils, the evil of evil, and indeed the only evil. Nothing is so evil as sin. Nothing is evil but sin. Sin is worse than affliction, than death, than the devil, than hell. Affliction is not so afflictive; death is not so deadly, the devil is not so devilish, hell is not so hellish as sin is. Of the four evils I have just named, all are truly terrible. And from all of them, everyone is ready to say, good Lord, deliver us. Yet none of these nor all of them together are as bad as sin.”
More than any other enemy or persecutor, sin is our greatest foe. So, how do we triumph over sin and gain victory as Jesus did? Peter said we need to muscle up. We need to arm ourselves with the mind of Christ.
Arm yourselves
The word for arm yourself is “hoplizo” in Greek, which means to arm yourself with weapons. We must properly outfit ourselves for the battles that make up our lives. Paul told us to put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:11), and Peter said we need to have the mind of Christ (1 Pet. 4:1). When we think like Jesus about sin and suffering, we’re able to obey him and love not our lives unto death (Rev 12:11). Peter’s readers faced fiery trials, with many martyred, and unjustly judged. He told them they should be willing to suffer in the flesh so that they, too, can triumph over the power and presence of sin—this is the mind of Christ.
While it’s natural to fear death, when we have the mind of Christ and are willing to suffer in the flesh, we also rob Satan of using this fear against us. If the worst thing that can happen to us is being killed for Christ, it ushers in the greatest reality of our lives, forever being in his presence! Is that a bad thing? Not if the primary battle of our lives is to be at war with sin. John Owen famously wrote, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.”
Our ultimate weapon
Having the mind of Christ is our ultimate weapon, assures our victory, and neuters our enemy. It is the greatest power display because it silences all our enemies, including that evil of all evils, sin.
Life is full of choices and battles—often, those two components go hand-in-hand. How we choose to think about suffering and how we arm ourselves to fight corresponds to our victories, either in this life or the next. We can resist and pull our minds and bodies out of the icy cold waters of suffering, or we can experience the victory of our risen Savior and arm ourselves with his same way of thinking. Then, sin’s grip is lost, and our eternal victory is won.
Jesu Juva (Jesus help us),
Cara
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