CONSIDER BOTH SIDES
Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).
In the effort to come to a meeting of minds, you tend to get caught up in your own interest and lose sight of the other person’s. Remember, to come to a meeting of minds implies a difference of opinion in the first place.
TO DRAPE OR NOT TO DRAPE
Recently, we moved to a home which had a large picture window overlooking some water. Eva wanted drapes on the window, and I didn’t. We discussed the issue back and forth.
She even proved to me that everyone we knew had drapes on their windows. After everything that could be said on both sides was said, she still wanted drapes, and I didn’t. A decision had to be made. Being the head of the family, it was my decision. The result?
We now have drapes.
Why?
Eva spends more time in that home than I do. I want to please her, and she wants drapes. Since it’s only a matter of opinion, and considering her interests as well as mine, the drapes didn’t affect the view, so it just made sense to yield to her interest. That settled it. We came to a meeting of minds.
THE SPIRIT OF A SERVANT
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard duality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by incoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8).
Such is the attitude of a servant toward whomever is served. Jesus was someone—the Son of God, the creator of the universe. Yet, He gave Himself fully to His task. He didn’t need to. He just surrendered Himself.
YOU ARE SOMEONE
You are also someone, with talent, ability, creativity, and training. You have power, influence, perhaps riches. You may be smarter than the person you are negotiating with.
I used to think that servants are people who have lowly positions with low pay. When I was a boy my mother would take in washings and scrub floors. I would deliver the washings to these huge homes. There were maids, cooks, chauffeurs, and gardeners. In my youthful mind, these people were servants.
Now, I see it differently. Physicians, teachers, counselors, lawyers, builders, and bankers are servants, too. They make lots of money. It’s not the pay that makes you a servant. It’s the giving of yourself totally to your task.
It is this spirit that is required if you are to be like-minded. You give yourself totally and completely to find a basis for a meeting of minds with whomever you must cooperate.
Training, ability, power, or wealth does not exempt you from making a continuous effort to maintain like-mindedness—even unto death.
A good example is a football player. He undergoes rigorous training, suffers pain, and risks injury to carry out his commitment to his team.
SUMMARY
The management of your mind is your responsibility. No one can do it for you. If you use God’s commandments as a standard for what you allow into your mind, and if you commit yourself to speak the truth and to be like-minded with the people in your life, you will build your own self-respect and self-love and you will be on the road to being indestructible.
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Review Questions:
1. Who decides what enters our minds?
2. In order to think straight—to develop a basis for keeping acceptable ideas and filtering out the unacceptable ones, we must fill our head with __________________ _____________________________.
3. The management of your mind is what kind of task? What does it involve?
4. In the process of interacting with other people, you either _____________ or _____________ what is on your mind. What happens if you choose to deceive others with whom you are interacting?
5. What are four possible ways to come to a meeting of minds?
a. ___________________________
b. ___________________________
c. ___________________________
d. ___________________________
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Continue on to Lesson 9.