The Mind of Christ
I have met many good Christians, who upon reaching an advanced age, admit that they have never read the Bible from cover to cover. Some have read the NT; but most have not even done that. Instead, they have spent years pecking & pawing at familiar and friendly passages that helped them feel warm inside.
Accordingly, they tended to choose churches & pastors who focused only upon those passages that emphasized God's unconditional love, forgiveness & acceptance. As a consequence, their Christian life remained superficial. As one colleague admitted, "I like to teach on things that emphasize the Love of God and skip over those passages those negative passages like hell, sin & God's wrath." Is this what Jeremiah meant when he complained of the teachers & prophets of his day, "They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. [Jer. 6:14; 8:11] And is this why Paul explained to the Ephesian Elders, that in order to be, "...innocent of the blood of all men... I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God [Acts 20:26,27]
The problem with superficial teaching is that it only works until we are crushed by some crisis. The furrows of faith are too shallow to produce unshakable faith & the peace it grants. People are left feeling alone, forsaken, fearful, helpless and even hopeless; wondering why the familiar platitudes no longer work, and where God has gone. [1Peter 4:12]
Still there is a deeper reason we avoid God's Word: "Truth" can be painful, especially if we are not living it. For example, when someone wrongs you, instead of following Scripture and forgiving, you get even; or when Scripture encourages you to be generous, you convince yourself that your needs are too great to share; or when you are tempted to do something that God has clearly said, "Thou shalt NOT," and you DO, because you have rationalized that "God knows my weakness, and/or my needs."
This happens, not only because we all have a sin nature, but also because we either ignorant, misinformed, or intentionally ignore the commands of Scripture. Then we act surprised when life doesn't work anymore. At such times we need to hear Paul's counsel to struggling Christians:
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with (prayer & the Word) are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. [2Cor. 10:2-5]
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. [2Timothy 3:16]
I recommend that you commit to reading the Bible, just four chapters a day; every day. Not only will you begin to understand what it means to have "the mind of Christ;" but you will also have the satisfaction of having the Bible, cover to cover. Begin today!