Should we shut off our mind?

Ladies, do not shut off your mind

I saw tweet below posted by Joyce Meyer on Twitter. Someone had retweeted it with a comment correcting Mrs Meyer's stance.

Joyce Meyer Verified account ‏@JoyceMeyer:

Sometimes we need to shut off our minds and pay attention to our heart. -Joyce

Meyer was asked by someone on her stream about the danger of listening to the heart, and she countered with a single verse of Psalm 51:6, and I post the verses before and after for context:



For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Of course, the Psalm is about David singing his repentance to God for his sin of going in to Bathsheba. The verse which Meyer quoted, about teaching us wisdom in the secret heart, is interpreted generally by most to mean that LORD unearths the sin that is in the secret heart and replaces it with His wisdom. Again Meyer is off base with her interpretation.

But that's not here or there. My point today is to focus on the exhortation by this false teacher to stop our thinking. I refute that. We never stop our thinking. Christianity is a thinking religion. These verses discus thinking, or setting our mind on things:

Philippians 4:8, Romans 8:5-6, Romans 12:2, Colossians 3:2,  2 Timothy 2:7.

We are constantly told to meditate on Him, to fix our mind on Him, to think these things over, to ponder His ways.

In the 2 Timothy 2:7 verse, we're told to think about what Paul is saying, and the Spirit will give understanding. We think, ponder and/or set our mind on, and the Lord gives understanding, wisdom, and growth through the renewing of the mind or the transforming of the mind. That's how it works in the faith. As we think about the Word of God, the Spirit gives understanding of it. When we shut our mind off from His word, the primary way the Spirit grows us in the faith is disconnected. Our minds will not be transformed.  This is dangerous and unwise.

Colossians 2:8 says that we become captive by falling for philosophy and empty deceit. Both of those are mind engagements, not heart, not feelings, not acts. The mind.

Peter tells us to be sober-minded, (2 Peter 5:8) not sober hearted, not carried along by feelings, not full of experiences.

When we shut off our minds to Christ, eventually He finishes the job, and then we can't think straight at all. Romans 1:21, 28 shows this.

Ladies, beware of any teacher that advises you (us) to shut off our mind. We have the mind of Christ!

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:5)