(The following letter was composed in September, 2006. It was written in response to a fellow Christian's admission that she felt she was losing her battle with discouragement. With slight emendations, this is what I wrote her.)
Dear Sister,
When I left school last Wednesday afternoon I was terribly discouraged about my class. One of my students had been successful in doing something that hadn't happened in the last few years - he had irked me to the point that I felt like a failure as a teacher, and I was ready to change jobs. I felt like I was at my wit's end trying to get him and several others in my class to come around to my way of thinking, behaving, and working in school. After Bible class Wednesday night, I took one of our dogs with me and went for a long walk; I had to get some things sorted out in my head. In the process of that walk, I remembered a vivid phrase from 1 Peter 1:13 that was a great blessing to me and dealing with my discouragement. I hope it, and what I have to say will likewise be a blessing to you.
In the first chapter of 1 Peter there is a beautiful tribute to the Christian's hope of salvation. Peter writes that we have been begotten again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (v. 3). We have an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled and does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us (v. 4). Because of this hope, we as Christians can rejoice in the trials we have, because the trials prove the genuineness of our faith (vv. 6-7). Our faith is genuine because we do not obey God because it makes our lives easier; we obey God because we genuinely believe that He is worthy. We rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (v. 8) because we know that our faith will ultimately result in the salvation of our souls (v. 9). In light of these wondrous truths about our hope and salvation, Peter then writes: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." God's remedy for discouragement is hope. It is the helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:17). A helmet is designed to protect the head. Our hope of salvation, when properly incorporated into our minds as Christians, will protect us from the vicious assaults of discouragement with which Satan attacks us.
In this verse, Peter describes what we Christians have to do so that our helmet (hope) of salvation protects us as God intends for it to. First, we must gird up the loins of our mind. What a picturesque and memorable phrase! In the first century, most people wore long, flowing, loose-fitting robes. Before someone could engage in strenuous activity, all their clothing had to be tucked in at the waist with a girdle (belt). Peter uses this imagery to depict how disciplined and active our minds must be. One of Satan's greatest tools in effecting discouragement in Christians is sloppy thinking. I was guilty of this last Wednesday, and it let directly to the discouragement I had. Why did I think my job as a teacher should be easier than it had been so far this year?
A couple of years ago, I remember making the observation that Christians are the most vulnerable spiritually when life is harder than they want it to be. Elijah was in grave spiritual peril when he was swallowed up in self-pity (1 Sam. 19). For Elijah, things were not going as easily or as well as he wanted them to. He was discouraged because his life was harder than he wanted it to be. I was discouraged Wednesday afternoon because I was finding my job as a teacher to be harder than I wanted it to be. Remembering that Christians are most vulnerable spiritually when life is harder than they want it to be did not make my students any less problematic on Thursday and Friday, but it did help me immediately. Sloppy thinking is a grave danger to a Christian's hope and a real asset to Satan. The loins of our minds must be girded up because we are involved in a strenuous endeavor (Luke 13:24) - we are working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12); we are running a race (Heb. 12:1); we are fighting an all-out war (1 Tim. 6:12); we are guarding a sacred trust (2 Tim. 1:13).
The second thing we as Christians with a living hope must do is "be sober in spirit". The word "sober" here has the idea of being balanced in our thinking. Trials are inevitable in life. The only thing we have control over is how we think when we are tried. Do we grow in hope or in despair (1 Pet. 1:7-8)? Do we think "praise God" or "poor me" (Acts 16:16-25; 5:40-41)? Do we rejoice or reject God (James 1:2-4)? There is not a single trial which you or I will experience that can change: 1) the promises of God (because God cannot lie - Titus 1:2); 2) the words of John 14:1-3; 3) the fact of Jesus' second appearance; 4) the love of God (see Rom. 8:38-39); or 5) our inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4-5). Why, then, should we permit the trials of life to get us unbalanced in our thinking?
The final thing Peter says should be true about your thinking is that it must be focused: "fix your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (NKJV). Sister, what are you living for? What one thing are you living for? If it is anything more than or other than you going to heaven, you're out of focus. How focused, how committed, how fixated are you on going to heaven? Is it a "nice idea" in your life, or is it your all -consuming passion? Peter says our focus and hope should be upon God's grace. Now, beloved, there is absolutely NOTHING depressing or discouraging about the grace of God. Read Lamentations 3:22-25.
To be a Christian, one must love God with all this mind (Mat. 22:37). As a Christian, you are transformed by the renewing (literally here, the remodeling) of your mind (Rom. 12:2) - you think differently. You are a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17). As a Christian you have a living hope, a helmet to protect your mind from the vicious attacks of Satan. Therefore, you must gird up the loins of your mind (no sloppy thinking), be sober in spirit (no unbalanced thinking), and fix your hope completely on the grace of God (no unfocused thinking).
As Christians, dear sister, we are more than conquerors (Rom. 8:37). It is my fervent prayer that you enjoy the victory of Christian living whenever Satan attacks you with discouragement.