Frequently, I describe some event from the life of the Christian community I lead to my wife, and then I add, “That is not how my brain works.”

For example, I encourage the leaders of our Church to park farther from the door on Sunday morning. This will give our guests, new believers, and the elderly a chance to park close by and avoid the walk.

Well, a little over a year ago, we built a new parking lot behind our building, and now I have noticed people parking close to the back door. When I asked one of them about it, they responded in disbelief, saying, “But it’s the back lot, so I am far away from the front door.”

While I understood what they were saying, I could not help but think, “That is not how my brain works.” In my mind, I want to park far away from all the doors.

Last night, I finished a small group studying “Taking Every Thought Captive.” Nineteen men and I discussed how to train our thinking to be more like Jesus. This includes handling distractions, avoiding anger, and speaking God’s truth into our lives.

The challenge for all of us, as followers of Jesus, is to change the way we think to align with Jesus. We are to question our patterns of thought and the behaviors they produce. Sometimes we need to look in the mirror and honestly ask, “What was I thinking?”

One reason believers need to keep reading our Bibles is to change the way we think. Another reason we are called to spend time in fellowship with other believers is to challenge the way we mentally process things.

Whenever we say to ourselves, “That is not how my brain works,” the follow-up question should be, “And is that an issue for me as a Christian to address?”