Where your mind is set matters

Lots of us begin a new year with new resolve, and I want to encourage you using coaching jargon - I hope that is okay, please bear with me - two words summarise what I’d like to see more of around me in 2026: “Growth mindset.”

The Bible teaches a lot about what we set our minds on. Some of my favourites:

• “Set your mind on things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3).
• “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked… but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1).
• “The mind that is set on the flesh is death, but the mind that is set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8).

Where our mind is set matters. What our mind is set on matters.

I’m here to remind myself and you, dear reader, to enjoy Christ and His Word so much that we complete His pattern; being in very nature God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, being obedient to death, even death on a cross - we are encouraged to have this mindset in Philippians 2.

Where has God put you?

Where do you find yourself purposefully spending your time, knowing that you do not belong?

In my East London context, I find myself and others with me walking streets marked by poverty and deprivation expressed in a myriad of ways. My friends and I find ourselves a minority, our homes one of very few Christian households on our streets in a vastly Muslim demographic. The Christmas lights do not twinkle brightly in my district. My loved ones and I get discouraged. We get tired of living amongst the markers of poverty - the fly-tipping we are constantly pestering the council about; the discarded items that remind us that there is a thriving sex industry behind closed doors, not far away - these are daily prompts not far from our front doors that remind us that we are not Home yet. Oh, but does that daily reminder build for us a growth mindset!

'Growth mindset'

I’m not planning on moving anywhere soon. I am committed to remembering that there is much to be thankful for: the long-term relationships with some of my neighbours; the many blessings of being inside my home and so many other trappings that living in the West brings.

In addition, I believe that I am planted here for a purpose: to carry the light of the risen Christ, and to grow. Being a minority grows in me resilience and hope. And it is a joy.

Someone did remind us that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame. Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5v5).

Where does your growth through challenge come from? Is it from faithfully persevering in prayer for your unrepentant family? Or spending time to get to know that group of young South Asian men at your church even though you feel completely out of your depth? Or is it in seeking living as a faithful believer on your streets, rich or poor, trying to push against the forces of worldliness?

I’d love to encourage you to find ways to keep growing by trying not to avoid the reality of uncomfortable spaces. With that mindset, looking to Jesus' example, I have no doubt that through His power we will achieve great things.