37 Powerful Scriptures on the Mind of Christ

Having the mind of Christ means we align with the character and nature of Christ through our thoughts, attitudes and actions. Essentially, we value what Jesus values and prioritize what Jesus prioritizes. As we look at some of the Scriptures on the mind of Christ we will see Jesus values people, His heavenly Father and the Word of His Abba Father. All of which are demonstrated through a heart of humility and dependence on God. 

Scriptures on the Mind of Christ: What does it mean to have the mind of Christ?

1. Jesus demonstrated a heart for others. 

One of the words that stands out most in the gospels is compassion. Jesus consistently demonstrated love and compassion for others. Compassion is different from sympathy and empathy. Sympathy and empathy demonstrate a feeling of sadness for others or with others.

However, compassion speaks to experiencing sympathy and empathy and taking action as a result. Jesus didn’t just feel sorry for people, rather, He took action to help, heal and share Truth about salvation. He additionally made the ultimate sacrifice to lay down His life for sinners, taking on the punishment for our sins. The Son of Man truly demonstrated a heart for others.

Romans 5:8 – But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Matthew 9:36 – When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

John 15:13 – But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2. Jesus demonstrated humility throughout His life. 

This was seen in His willingness to submit to the will of His Heavenly Father and through His life of service. Jesus left the throne room of heaven to walk this sin ravaged world with the will of God as His mission. Coming to serve and ultimately die on the cross to save the lives of many.

Philippians 2:5-11 – Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

3. Jesus demonstrated selflessness. 

His love was sacrificial and selfless. Having the mind of Christ means we put the needs of others before our own needs. 

Matthew 20:28 – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

4. Jesus demonstrated wisdom and discernment.

In His interactions with others, His teachings and His actions. He relied on the Ultimate Source of Wisdom– God. We saw this as He pursued time in prayer with His Father and in the Truth of Scripture He spoke. He aligned with God’ will and God’s Word.

John 5:30 – By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Colossians 2:2-3 – My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

5. Jesus demonstrated obedience to the will of God. 

In everything Jesus did, He sought to do the will of the Father regardless of the pain or suffering it cost. He was completely aligned with God’s plan and purpose for His life. 

John 5:19 – So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

6. Jesus’ mind was aligned with Scipture. 

When Jesus spoke it either aligned with God’s Word or it was quoting God’s Word. He demonstrated knowledge and understanding of God’s Word throughout the gospels. The more time you spend on the renewing of your mind, the more understanding you will have of God’s will and of spiritual things.

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

7. Jesus prayerfully depended on God. 

So many passages in the gospels describe Jesus going away to pray. He depended on His time with God to guide and strengthen Him. 

Luke 5:16 – But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

These Bible verses on the mind of Christ outlines what the mind of Christ looks like through the lens of Scripture. The process to have the mind of Christ or be Christ like requires sanctification- a constant process of transformation to align with the thoughts, attitudes and actions of Christ. This can only be done in cooperation with the Holy Spirit’s work in us and in complete dependence on God.

Truths About Having the Mind of Christ

Below are some of the best Bible Verses on the mind of Christ. Having the mind of Christ involves the ongoing work of a renewed mind and God’s Word is the most powerful tool that He has graciously given us. These verses help us understand how to align with Christ and live life as our new self, pursuing the plans and purposes of God rather than our own will and ways. This can only be done by the grace of God. 

The Mind of Christ is Given to Believers Through the Spirit of God

The Holy Spirit dwells in believers. God’s Holy Spirit is the only way that we can understand the Holy Bible, acquire wisdom to discern spiritual matters and supercedes human wisdom. The human mind cannot do this apart from God. Understanding the things of God requires the Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 2:13-16 – And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Romans 8:6 – For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 8:9 – You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

John 6:63 – It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 

1 John 5:20 – And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Set on the Eternal

Colossians 3:2 – Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

1 Peter 1:3-4 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

A New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Colossians 3:9-10 – Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Ephesians 4:22 – You were taught, with regard to your former manner of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

Prayerful Dependence & Trust in God

Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Isaiah 26:4 – Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 – The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Knows God’s Word

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 – For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of the world are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

1 Timothy 1:7 – For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Hebrews 2:1 – Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Discerns the Will of God

Romans 12:2 – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Possesses Peace

Colossians 3:15 – And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Philippians 4:7 – And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

A Heart for Others

Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

Acts 20:35 – In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

John 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Romans 12:1 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Wrapping Up Scriptures on the Mind of Christ

We are created by God for His plan and purpose. As we meditate on Scriptures on the Mind of Christ, we learn what it means to align our perspective to the perspective of Christ. Jesus lived a life that embodied humility, a heart for others and in complete submission to God’s plan for His life. He did this through prayerful dependence on God, knowledge of God’s Word and wisdom. We have graciously been given the ability of having the mind of Christ through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Ask God to give you a heart for Him and the mind of Christ. As we increasingly live, think and act in a way that aligns with the mind of Christ- we walk in our purpose, living our best life to the glory of God.