EXPOSE | Gird is the word
“Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 1:13 (NASB 1977)
EXPLORE | Right thinking, right living
My wife becoming a Christian life coach was a helpful reminder to me of the many Scriptures that talk about our minds and how we are to think. Her work with people on their thinking is the basis for ultimately making the right changes in their behavior.
Once we get our thoughts right about God, ourselves, and our circumstances, that right thinking leads to right living. This was something that Peter was trying to stress by calling a group of Christ followers being persecuted for their faith to do three things: gird their minds, keep sober, and hope–completely–on the grace of God.
Certainly, the persecution they were facing was challenging what they thought of God, which is probably why Peter begins the chapter by providing them the foundation and inspiration for his charge. Verse 13 starts with the word ‘therefore’ pointing his readers back to verses 3-12 to remind them of who they are in Christ and all that God has done for them.
In light of this, Peter then commands them to gird their minds. To gird our minds is to, as Dr. Thomas Constable describes, “be mentally ready for work or war.” At the time, the clothing worn would come down past their knees, and in order to free their legs to run or work, they would tuck their garment up into their belts. Likewise, our minds need to be ready to do the hard and right things.
Our minds being ready for action requires us to be sober-minded. We not only should be sensitive to how we’re being influenced, but, as one dictionary defines sober-mindedness, we need to be “straightforward and serious; not exaggerated, emotional, or silly” in our thinking.
Underlying our steady mind that is ready to engage is our hope, which Peter stresses must solely be fixed on Christ. This will compel us to endure, in spite of any mental or physical or emotional distractions or attacks we may face:
“When we fix our hope completely on the grace to be brought to us then, present trials will not deflect us from obeying God faithfully now.”
Dr. Thomas Constable
Years ago, while we were still homeschooling our boys, I came up with one of those ‘dad phrases’ that to this day, our boys still love. I had come home from work, as they were finishing up their schooling, and we got into a discussion about the importance of using our heads and feeding our minds. Near the end of our conversation, I summed up by stating that “God can’t use you if you’re stupid.”
After all, what good are we to others if we are not thinking properly? Our ability and commitment to being mentally sharp is what enables us to ‘gird our minds for action’.
EXECUTE | Mentally sharp, prepared for action
According to Magic Mind, the “building blocks of our mental acuity” involve strengthening “our brain’s ability to store and make use of essential information”, being able to fully focus on a task, and being able to ‘read the room’.
If we think of ourselves as a boxer in a ring, we want to keep our minds capable of bouncing on the balls of our feet. Agile. Ready for offense–or defense. We also want to stay on a regiment of eating right, exercising, and getting plenty of rest.
But with that as a basis, I want to highlight a few other practices can we adopt that can be instrumental in conditioning our minds for action.
Remember your hope
It is pretty clear that 1 Peter 1:13 is not a suggestion but a command to gird our minds, keep sober, and fix our hope, remembering that verses 3-12 are the basis for this command. Here are just a few things Peter included in those verses:
- He has “caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:3)
- He has provided “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” (1 Peter 1:4)
- The testing of our faith is for our benefit and yields something more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7)
- We “believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8–9)
Recalling these truths will motivate us to be vigilant in our thinking and remain firm in our faith.
Slow down your mind and body
Aytekin Tank, founder, and CEO of JotForm, shares entrepreneurship and productivity tips at Lifehack and referred to the science that supports our need to slow down: “Our brains have two systems for thinking: an automatic and fast one, along with a slower, more logical system. As you can imagine, the faster way is linked with a more anxious state.”
Being in an anxious or hurried state ends up compromising our ability to remain focused. He says that physically slowing ourselves down, will activate our “parasympathetic nervous system, which alleviates those anxious feelings and turns on the logical part of your brain.” Intentionally slowing down and, as Peter commends, fixing our hope “completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” is going to give us the mental space and confidence to effectively face and solve the problems we are facing.
Let your mind wander
It seems a little counter-intuitive, but letting our minds wander—intentionally—can actually benefit us. All that focusing on a single task, or, at least focusing hard in one direction for an extended period of time, is going to be taxing. As a result, says Mr. Tank, “your mind may grow fatigued, which will result in declining focus and productivity.” When it is time for a break, take one. Allow yourself to think about something else on purpose before coming back to what you were working on.
Train your brain
If you’re not quite able to focus or remain alert, the good news is that our brains can be trained. Here are three ways we can build our mental rigor around Magic Mind’s building blocks I mentioned earlier:
- Practicing playing games that require strategic thinking is one way to begin building up our ability to remain focused. Tank points to a 2015 study that found that “adults who spend 15 minutes a day, five days a week, on brain-training activities such as crossword puzzles experienced improved concentration.”
- Stop tapping your mind to remember things that are routine. That is what calendars, planners, etc. are for. Move off those things that are better left on paper (or your phone) that don’t have to use precious brain energy.
- For those things that you need to remember, you’ll save some brain juice by repeating what you just heard or learned (out loud or by writing it down) to reinforce the memory.
Maintaining mental sharpness is a means to an end. Because we are called to be mentally ready for “work or war” and sober-minded, our mental training is how we’ll put ourselves in the best position of having a mind ready for action.
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Further reading:
Stay sharp
Staying mentally sharp
6 simple steps to keep your mind sharp at any age
