Perspective ShiftSample

The Joy Mindset

The joy Paul wrote about, the joy he lived out, originated from his relationship with Christ. It dominated his mind and thought life, manifesting in his attitude, speech, and actions. It wasn’t just how he felt, but how he thought. The same is true for us.

Your attitude affects your altitude. How you think affects how you feel. This letter to the Church of Philippi drives that point home—fifteen times, Paul writes about thinking, and ten times about remembering! Your mindset and your joy are inseparable.

This makes perfect sense when we consider a primary key to Christianity: you cannot change your heart, but you can change your mind. Conversely, God can change your heart, but He won’t change your mind. So if I choose to change the way I think about a given situation, God will change my heart to follow suit. But, if I don’t change my thoughts, God cannot change my heart. This is such an empowering truth.

Few people illustrate this truth better than Corrie ten Boom, a woman who found joy in excruciating circumstances in WWII. As the Holocaust raged, she and her family made the risky choice to help Jews evade the Nazis. The consequences of their bravery? Imprisonment. Even in that bleak place, she was able to say, “Joy runs deeper than despair.” Not because of her surroundings, but because of where her mind and heart were anchored. If she could find joy in the midst of the Holocaust, surely we can tune our mind in to finding joy in our own daily challenges.

So, when Paul says in Philippians 2:5 to have the “mind of Christ,” what's he really getting at? He was encouraging the Philippian believers to rejoice even in difficult circumstances. To respond and speak differently than expected. This flies in the face of today’s world, doesn’t it?

A joy mindset sees the bigger picture in the same way Jesus did. Between Paul's resilience and Corrie's spirit in the face of adversity, it's clear that joy's not about what’s on the outside—it's an inside job!

As you engage with God’s word:

● What is God saying to you?

● What does it mean to you?

● What action step do you need to take?

After you reflect on these questions, bring everything to God in prayer.