There are certain disadvantages to having an obsessive, uncompromising focus on a single aim or purpose. Such a focus can permit you to neglect other areas of your life. Your personal relationships might suffer. Your health might be overlooked. Your work might not be completed. On the other hand, there are amazing advantages to being single-minded. You channel all of your energy into your primary goal. Being single-minded allows you to be anchored and steadfast in your resolve. A single-minded focus simplifies your life. You have one primary focus.
When we think about Jesus: His life, His direction, His purpose, and His goal, it was to do the will of the Father. This included seeking the lost, going to the cross, and establishing the Kingdom of God. Matthew 4:23 tells us that, “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.”
Imagine what would have happened if Jesus was not single-minded. Jesus would have exposed less souls to His teaching in the synagogues. Fewer would have heard Him preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. Less would have been healed of their sickness and diseases. Fortunately, Jesus was single-minded in doing the Father’s will.
Later, when Jesus struggled with going to the cross He prayed in Luke 22:42, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Being single-minded, Jesus obeyed the Father’s will. Imagine if His determination to do the will of the Father was unfocused or half-hearted. If that was Jesus’ attitude, He never would have went to the cross and we would die in our sins.
The Apostle Paul adopted Jesus’ single-mindedness. Thinking of all of Paul’s struggles in his missionary journeys, subsequent visits, and letters, Paul was focused on his mission to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. He suffered terribly in his ministry (2 Corinthians 11:23-33), yet he persevered (2 Timothy 4:7).
Imagine what the church would look like if Paul had a fickle faith. What if Paul was ambivalent or apathetic? Would the church have spread as far and wide as it did during his missionary journeys? Would Paul have even embarked on any of the journeys? Would Timothy and Titus be preachers? Having a Kingdom minded focus allowed Paul to fulfill his God-given mission. This is the same way that Christians can accomplish our God-given mission.
In Philippians 2:1-2 Paul writes, “1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Paul is saying that Christians are to agree wholeheartedly, be of the same mind, be of the same way, have the same thinking, and be like-minded. In other words, we are to be united in our focus on the things of God individually, and as a body of believers.
Christians are to be single-minded. This means that our thoughts are to be God’s thoughts. We are to have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). If we each think like Christ, then together we are like-minded as the body of Christ.
Such like-mindedness means that we are to have Jesus’ single-minded direction, purpose, and goals for our life. Just like Jesus, our primary focus needs to be to do the will of our Heavenly Father. When we have such single-mindedness, we can fulfill our purpose for God.
