It’s All in Your Mind

] fl1tapJn. 16 "~ llun tu @Juhl ludh mffeud. /.t,¥. u.t in du /fu1t, a.Nit ~ lilu.un.u wlllt du ULmL mind: lo,. Ju tJud halh .llt/ltud in du /Jnh ho.ii, ttnlM /Mm wt. " l Peter 4:1 Paul wrote to the Philippians, "J!d, fl.ta mind In ut l,J1U4 ""'1Jt. uuu td.u,. i.n @Jt.ruL r; /t.uu, " (Philippians 2:5). Peter invites believers to arm themselves with the same mind as the Lord Jesus Christ in regard to suffuring. We probably do not like the exhortation of Peter; we like to run away from suffering, we do not like trouble. But possibly, Peter is not highlighting physical suffering. Possibly, he is speaking of emotional trouble. I've had people say to me many times that they would rather have someone physically hit them than to make them suffer because of the tongue or mental attitude. In l Peter 3:18, Pemr wrom, "("Jo,. fi2luw. aho. lwllt O-JU.t. .llt/ltud f,c.,. .uJU..••" In our ted Peter says believers should be conditioned to realize they are going to suffer. You are going to suffer mentally and emotionally. He uses the word mind. The verse says that we are to arm our minds for we are going to suffer exactly like Christ suffered in the flesh. On the believer's part, there must be a mental readiness to suffer for spiritual reasons. Second, a believer will suffer for spiritual reasons and third, if a believer does not suffer, he probably is not spiritual. One of the greatest proofs that you know Christ is the fact that sometimes you are miserable. Christians are to set their minds, arm their minds, with the fact that they are going to suffer in the flesh. Hebrews 2:9,10 says, "(]Jul t.o.L UL (faMu, mlw- toDL m.ad ,e a li.llu fumu l.han du a,uµlt /,o,- flu .m.1/uuu.,. o/- d.ttdlt, ~ with g/D,y, and h.bniNn; lltat lu hlJ, du fJJtlLll"' .(}_od Jwa1d ltuh dmih IN- aJllfl- man.. (lo.,. i.f 6ttantt him, /N- mko.m. fill all ll,i,uµ, and by, wlrom. au all lltiJup., in / m.ng, i,uJ mtUtlJ, JJUU u.nfD. ~ l.o- nudu flu euplnin a/ lluu. .udo.aJ.io-n ,u,/ttl ~ m/1,uin,;µ." The Captain of our salvation was made complete or mature through suffering. God has commanded believers in Matthew 5:48 to be complete or mature. How is this possible? If I base it on Christ's life, maturity must come through suffering. None of us like to hear this, but if we become mature as Peter did, we have to suffer. It does not have to affect you or your attitude because your mind can be armed for the fact that suffering is going to happen. This is not a marcyr's complex nor the normal believer's complex that says that everything has to be bad. We do have that kind of thinking and that 71