In August of 2006, our daughter asked me, “Dad, will you write a poem for Timothy’s and my wedding?”
“Yes, but I’ll submit it to you for approval before finalizing it.” The first verse was from Rebecca’s point of view; the second from Timothy’s viewpoint; and so on throughout the poem.
When Rebecca showed it to Timothy, he exclaimed, “That’s amazing! Your dad said it exactly the way I would have said it. How did he do it?”
Rebecca responded, “Dad mentally climbed into your shoes. He knows the sound of your voice, he knows how you think, and imagined what you would say. Then he simply wrote what you probably would have said.”
In another situation, I worked for a man at a scientific laboratory for about eight years. I wrote many of his reports and memos, and conducted other business in his name. Rarely making editorial amendments, one day he asked me, “How do you write my reports in my ‘voice’ so fluidly? It seems as though you read my mind. How do you do it?”
I told him: “I know the sound of your voice, I know your work ethics, and I’ve watched you make decisions. Therefore, I mentally climb into your shoes, imagine what you would say concerning the situation, let those thoughts flow through my mind, and write what I hear.”
My father passed from this life in February of 2010, but I can still tell you what he would think and say in various situations because I know him intimately.
I hope you readers understand that I don’t have any special ability uncommon to the rest of you. You all can do the same thing. How?
You must know how the other person thinks. You must know how he or she sounds. You must know the person’s values and how the person reacts. Very simply: you must KNOW the person.
Jesus provided the best example of this concept. Having originally come from heaven (John 1:1-3), He knew the Father intimately. Jesus diligently sought the Father’s counsel and He always remained alert to the Father’s thoughts. Jesus knew and shared God’s values, ethics, compassion, etc. Because of that, every time Jesus spoke, He told others what God’s desires were.
In reality, we can also know God’s thoughts and apply His solutions to many of our problems in life. And if we employed that same concept with our friends and family members, we could generally avoid or settle most of the interpersonal problems that come our way.
So, how do we mere humans think God’s thoughts? I am glad you asked.
First, you have to know that God is real. Second, you have to know God intimately. And unless God, Himself, appears to you in a vision, the primary way you will know Him is by studying the Bible – God’s revelation of Himself to humankind.
We find insight into this concept in 1 Corinthians 2:13-16. The Apostle Paul was teaching about spiritual matters relating to our relationship to Jesus. He said,
“13 When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who are not Christians cannot understand these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means. 15 We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can’t understand us at all. 16 How could they? For, “Who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who can give him counsel?” But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ” (NLT).
That last phrase is the key: “We (Christians who obey the Lord) have the mind of Christ.” That is, we can learn to think along the same lines as Jesus thinks because studying the Bible helps us to think more like God. But there is an added benefit: thinking more like God enables us to understand Scripture more accurately. Then, of course, more accurately understanding Scripture helps us to know the Lord more intimately, and to progressively think more like Him.
We can learn to think God’s thoughts. That was God’s plan when He created Adam and Eve. When we think like someone, we can become like that person. And that’s what God wants of us – to become more like Him. (Read Ephesians 4:13.)
Gene Linzey 