Thermometer or Thermostat
(Align Your Thoughts with Christ)
Ephesians 6:10-18
Introduction: This is week six in our series “Eight Essential Exercises for Building a Better Body.” We’re continuing to explore the need to build healthy, God-honoring relationships because all of life is lived out in the context of our relationships.
The first exercise we considered was “Allocating Strength.” As we studied this exercise we examined our need to find our strength in the Lord. Without His strength, we can’t even complete the rest of the exercises and our relationships will suffer.
Secondly we explored our need to make certain that our relationships are supported by and grounded in integrity. Without that belt of truth strapped around us, we cannot stand and our relationships crumble.
We then considered the need to access the righteousness of Christ. We need to be right with God before we can be right in our relationships with others, and the way we get right with God is we allow the righteousness of Christ to be given to us. And then we ask him to fill us, to dwell in us and actually change our character so that we are truly a righteous people.
Next we looked at our need to be actively preparing to advance. If our relationships are going to be healthy, God honoring relationships, we must be prepared to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ into those relationships with our words and our actions. A lack of preparation leaves us susceptible to defeat by the enemy.
Last week examined the role that faith plays in our relationships. We must believe in the Word of God. We must trust Jesus enough to “Get into the Wheelbarrow,” and we must let that trust lead us to a life of obedience. When we trust God enough to obey what he teaches regarding our relationship, all of our relationships will be enhanced.
Today we’re going to look at the helmet of salvation. Let’s take some time and explore how the helmet of salvation, allowing Christ to change our mind will impact our relationships. You see, in every relationship you have you are either a thermometer or a thermostat. It is how your thoughts are aligned with Christ that will determine which you are.
Read with me from Ephesians 6:10-18 again.
Ep. 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Ep. 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Ep. 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ep. 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ep. 6:14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
Ep. 6:15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Ep. 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Ep. 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Ep. 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
It’s no accident that Paul associates salvation with the head. The head, or the mind, is very much the center of all that we are and all that we do. It stands to reason that since who and what we are flows, to a great extend, out of our minds that Paul would want to make certain that our minds also experienced the salvation of Christ.
Keeping that in mind let me begin this study today by asking this question. “How do I effect positive change in my relationships?” I’m not saying that every relationship you have is a poor relationship or that every relationship is in trouble. But, who doesn’t have a desire to improve every relationship they have. And in order to improve a relationship, you have to effect positive change.
(Note: I’m not talking about the psychobabble “positive change” the world would have us swallow. I’m talking about brining righteousness, holiness, joy, peace, love, kindness, etc. into our relationships. I’m talking about making every relationship we have a relationship that will honor God and draw others closer to Christ.)
Question: So, how do I effect positive, godly, change in my relationships
Answer: By becoming a thermostat.
Do you understand the difference between a thermostat and a thermometer?
A Thermometer conforms to the temperature around it. It registers what the temperature is and you know the temperature of the surrounding environment by looking at the thermometer. All a thermometer does is tell you what the temperature is. It doesn’t effect the temperature in any way. It only reflects it.
A Thermostat, on the other hand, controls the environment. It has a specific setting that it is “tuned to.” If the surrounding temperature does not measure up to that setting, the thermostat kicks in and turns on the heat or the air-conditioner and causes the surrounding temperature to adjust until it falls into line with the thermostat’s setting. A thermostat is an agent of change
A thermometer conforms to its environment. A thermostat transforms its environment.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
We are called to be transformers not conformers in our world and in our relationships, however most of us are simply thermometers. We can tell you the temperature of our relationships, but we can’t do anything about it. If we are going to effect change in our relationships and thus in our community and our world, we must become transformers, we must become thermostats.
That leads us to another question.
Question: How do I become a thermostat?
Answer: By changing my mind. (Aligning my thoughts with Christ.)
This is what Paul is getting at when he tells us to put on the helmet of salvation. We need to let the thoughts of Christ be our thoughts.
“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
It’s not as easy as it sounds. Most of us don’t spend our thoughts on what is right, good, true, noble, lovely, etc. In fact we have a hard time even comprehending what Christ would think. This shouldn’t surprise us. God says in Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than our thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
We are to be thinking on the things Christ thought. How would it effect every relationship you have if your thoughts were on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy? I know that all of my relationships would be stronger, healthier, more God-honoring if I practiced that kind of thinking on a consistent basis.
We are to be thinking like Jesus would think, but most of the time we don’t. We don’t because it isn’t natural. We don’t because it isn’t easy. We don’t because, often, we simply don’t know how. Thus, it’s easy to say that we need to align our thoughts with Christ, but it’s not necessarily easy to do.
In order to become a thermostat, we have to change the way we think. And it is putting on the helmet of salvation, practicing the difficult exercise of aligning your thoughts with Christ, which will cause you to change the way you think. Any improvement starts with a change of mind. But as I have said, changing our mind is a hard thing to do. It is hard because we have conditioned our minds to think in one direction and training ourselves to think another way, changing our mind is very hard.
That leads us to one last question we must consider this morning.
Question: How do I change my mind?
How do I align my thoughts with Christ? How do I put on the helmet of salvation? How do I let Jesus save my mind, as well has my heart?
That is the point of our study today. Everything we look at from this point forward in our time together is going to be focussed on the question, “How do I change my mind?” or “How do I put on the helmet of salvation, letting Christ save my mind as well as my heart?”
In order to make the change of mind required of us; we have to understand 5 principles about our thinking, our behavior and how we change them both.
Behavior is based on belief.
The fact of the matter is that everything you do is base upon a belief. When you get in your car and turn the key in the ignition, you do so because you believe it is going to start.
You buy laundry soap because you believe it will make your clothes cleaner.
You went to college because you believed it would get you a better job, or because you believed someone would love you more, or because you believed it was the “right thing to do.” Whatever
The point is that every behavior you have is based on a belief. Belief always comes first.
Behind every sin is a lie of unbelieving.
Every sin is the result of a lie, a lie of unbelieving. “Pastor Steve, I’m not sure I follow. Why are we suddenly talking about sin? I thought we were talking about how to make our relationships better.”
I am talking about making our relationships better. What is it that causes a breakdown in relationships? Almost without exception, it is sin.
When you and your spouse are at odds, there is tension in your marriage, maybe your marriage is on the verge of divorce, and it is because sin is in the mix. The sin of pride, the sin of deception, the sin of selfishness, whatever. But relationships don’t break down when both people are living with compassion, kindness, gentleness, love, patience, etc., etc. Relationships at home, at work, at church, anywhere, start to unravel when sin enters into the picture. And sin gets in the mix when we have been deceived into thinking that the sinful action or attitude is right.
When you do something dumb you either believe it is the right thing to do at that moment, or you don’t believe the consequences are as sever as your want or perceived need at that moment. But in either case you act because you don’t believe that the “right thing” is the right thing. It’s a lie of unbelieving.
Remember that our relationships are in the crosshairs of the enemy. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We do have an enemy and he is smooth. He doesn’t’ attack us with real arrows, but he shoots at our relationships with temptation, selfishness, and deception.
Every relationship is threatened by sin. And behind every sin is a life of unbelief. And that unbelief effects our behavior, and impacts our lives and the lives of others to the detriment of our relationships.
In order to change behavior, you must first change belief.
Trying to change a person’s behavior without changing what they believe is futile. This ties in very closely with our first point. All behavior is based on belief.
It’s like a boat on auto-pilot. If I have a boat, and it’s in a lake, and it’s on auto-pilot, and it’s headed north – then when I want it to head south – I want to change the direction or the behavior of the boat. I have two options: I can physically grab the steering wheel of the boat and physically force it to turn around, and it will turn around. But the whole time it’s turned around, I’ll be under tension because I’m forcing it to go against its auto-pilot. Pretty soon, I’ll get tired and I’ll let go of the wheel. When I let go of the wheel the boat will go back to the course set by the auto-pilot. That means I go back to acting selfish, I go back to uncontrolled lust, I go back to lying and deception, I go back to pride and arrogance because I believe those are in my best interest. Now, the better way is to change the auto-pilot. The way you change the auto-pilot is by changing the way you think. And, that brings up changing our mind, or aligning our thoughts with Christ.
Change always starts in the mind. (Romans 12:2, Eph. 4:23, Titus 3:5)
Change of belief, leading to a change of behavior always starts in the mind. Until we let our minds be changed by Christ and his power, we will never be able to change our behavior, and thus, become a thermostat in our relationships.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, crated to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-23
We are to be “made new in the attitude of our mind.” We are to have a different way of thinking. We are to be thinking like God, in true righteousness and holiness. We are to practice the exercise of aligning our thoughts with Christ.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
We are called to be transformed, changed, by having our minds renewed. Too many of us have let the world’s pattern of thinking shape, or conform, our minds. But if we are going to effect godly change in our relationships, we have to allow our minds to be transformed. We must have a change of mind.
I won’t change my beliefs and I won’t change my behavior, until I change my mind. The Bible is all about changing your mind. In fact, changing you mind is the central theme of the New Testament.
Some of you are looking at me like I’m not sure what I’m talking about. But it is true; the central theme of the New Testament is “changing your mind.”
Changing your mind is called repentance.
Repentance is not about a guy walking around with a big sign telling us that the end is near. Repentance is not about coming to an altar at the front of the church and laying out a list of your sins – that’s confession. Repentance means, “to change your mind.” And repentance is the central theme of the New Testament.
“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matthew 3:2-3
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.’” Matthew 4:17
When Jesus sends out the 12 disciples we are told in Mark 6:12 that, “They went out and preached that people should repent.”
In Acts 2:38 we have the record that Peter preached “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.”
He also says in Acts 3:19 “Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
Paul says in Acts 17:30, “…but now he commands all people everywhere to repent”
I think you get the point. All throughout the New Testament, the theme is repentance. Christ wants to change us and that change starts by changing our minds.
If we are going to be thermostats in our relationships, if we are going to be agents of change that seek to ensure that our relationships are honoring to God, then we must change. We must change our behavior, by changing our beliefs and that starts with changing our minds.
However, changing your mind is hard work. In fact it is impossible work. On your own you cannot change your mind because the natural mind, your built in auto-pilot is not pointed at God. We naturally go away from God and we don’t have the ability, on our own, to reset the auto-pilot.
Good preaching can’t change your mind. Reading the right books can’t change your mind. Good psychology can’t change your mind. Only one thing can truly change your mind. Only one thing can truly cause repentance to take place and help you align your thoughts with Christ.
Only God’s Word can change your mind.
Here is the secret to changing your mind and becoming a thermostat, a change agent, in your every relationship. This is the secret to aligning your thoughts with Christ. It’s how we put on the helmet of salvation.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “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.”
The Word of God equips us for every good work. The Word of God prepares us for life and for the relationships we have in life. It is the Word of God and only the Word of God than can change your mind and equip you to be a thermostat in your relationships.
Now, again, I’m not going to put much time in on this today because next week the entire message will be on the value of the Word of God, the Bible, for our lives.
Today I’ll simply say that we must have a change of mind, repentance, if we are going to experience a change of behavior, and we won’t have a change of mind until we expose our mind, on a consistent basis, to the Word of God.
Only God’s Word, only the Bible, can change your mind.
Application: Each of us is either a thermometer or a thermostat. We either reflect the temperature and changes in our relationships, or we effect them. If we are going to honor God in our relationships we have to be a thermometer; we must be a change agent. That’s why Jesus called us to be salt and light.
But in order to be an agent of change, we must first align our thoughts with Christ. We must put on the helmet of salvation, allowing the saving grace of Christ to change, not just our hearts but our minds as well. We must let the salvation offered by Jesus effect us mentally and intellectually. We must have the mind of Christ. And that will only happen when have a change of mind.
Our minds will only be changed when we immerse them into the Word of God, the Bible, on a regular basis.
In your relationships are you a conformer or a transformer? Do you change or do you initiate change. Let me challenge you to become a transformer by allowing the Word of God to transform you! Align your thoughts with Christ and he’ll begin to align your relationships with His will!
