Who will take responsibility for the violence in our nations?  Is it the government’s job?  Is it the school’s job?  Is it the video game creators?  Is it the church’s job or the parent’s job?   Do we need more gun control or less?  There are very good arguments on both sides.  Surely an object has no mind, no will of its own and while we may look to our politicians to tighten the law and our police departments to enforce the law, no law will change the condition of the heart of man.  If Adam and Eve lived in a world of perfection and their minds strayed away from God’s direction for them, what could become of us?

Truly the change our nations need is a soul-by-soul “heart control.”  When a heart is submitted and controlled by the Spirit of Christ, the weapons of our warfare radically change.  When a heart is given to God, that heart is under the control of a renewed mind, a mind that thinks the thoughts of God…”we have the mind of Christ.”  (I Cor. 2:16)  Romans reveals to us that, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life…”  If we live according to our sinful nature, we will have our minds set on what that nature desires.  If we live according to the Holy Spirit within our spirit, we will set our minds upon what the Spirit desires.  As we have opportunity to touch lives in 2013, keep in mind that each of us has the potential of seeing a life radically changed by the Spirit of Christ.  A new believer will experience a renewed mind through Jesus’ process of heart change.