Brainwashed?

When I heard people accuse us Christians of being brainwashed, my first reaction was that we have been heartwashed, not brainwashed :). But then my next reaction was: maybe I want to be...maybe I am brainwashed because I want to have the mind of Christ! "The Lord knows the thoughts of man; He knows that they are futile." Psalm 94:11 I don't want to think as the world thinks. I don't want to think as I (sinner living in the flesh) used to think. I am now a new creation. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 My old way of thinking and living has gone, being replaced with the new way of thinking and living according to God's standard.

I believe being heartwashed (repenting, asking Jesus to wash away all our sins, giving our heart to Him, being filled with His love and the Holy Spirit) is/should be followed by being brainwashed (having the mind and the attitudes of Christ, being filled with Philippians 4:8 kind of thoughts, knowing God as the Creator of the universe, meditating day and night on God's Word, choosing/protecting human life no matter how small or how old, putting others above ourselves, etc.) The ways of God are mostly opposite of the ways of this world. The world thinks:- earth came into existence out of the Big Bang, men evolved from apes, killing unborn babies is a matter of choice (exercising women's rights), looking out for ourselves is the wisest thing to do, a white lie is okay, sleeping around is acceptable, young people don't need to obey or listen to their parents because their peers' opinions are more important, the goal in life should be getting rich, successful, and/or famous, women can dress as seductively as they want because they own their body and nothing's wrong with enjoying their "power" over men (playing with their lust and their visual-sensitive mind), couples should get a divorce when they no longer love each other or they fall in love with someone else, or they discover that they are not compatible, etc. From now on, if I were to be accused of having been brainwashed, I would gladly take it as a compliment :)!

"Do not conform any longer 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." Romans 12:2

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

P.S. "Brainwashing" can be a very bad thing. Here I'm talking about the kind that is washed by only God's Word and His Holy Spirit. Being brainwashed by man-made religions, cults, false teachings, or anything that goes against God's Word is detrimental. You need to be aware of that and be like the Bereans (comparing everything to the Scriptures) so that you may be able to detect any lies immediately and won't be brainwashed the wrong way.

Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts. Have a blessed day in the Lord, everyone!