Battlefield of the Mind

Every sin first begins in the mind. One of Satan’s favorite tricks is to have us believe every thought we have is our own when they are not. Some thoughts are actually planted by him in order to derail us—and they can run the gamut from the unkind to the perverse. But they don’t actually become our thoughts until we entertain them, examine them, mull them over, and finally embrace them. If this were not so, then God wouldn’t have told us in His word to cast “down imaginations and every high thing that exaleth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) Nor would He have told us “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

If left unchecked our mind can take us down roads we don’t want to go. It could be as simple as telling us that when our head aches, it’s not a headache but a brain tumor; that when someone we know doesn’t say “hello” at the foodstore he/she is snubbing us rather than busy or preoccupied. It can tell us that we are any number of negative adjectives when we are actually made in the image and likeness of God. An unchecked mind can fester with thoughts of real or perceived injustices or injuries, stirring up feelings of envy, jealousy and hatred. It can steal our peace, make us feel unworthy, or fill us with fear or other destructive emotions as Satan tries to convince us that we are a loser, will never be or have anything, become poor or sick or friendless or . . . . You fill in the blank. And all are lies planted in our minds by the Father of Lies. There is no end to the negative power of an unchecked mind.

It’s interesting that science is finally catching up with the Bible and now tells us that negative emotions—often the product of faulty thinking—can make us sick, raising our blood pressure, affecting our heart, affecting, in fact, nearly every cell in our body. The Bible tells us that a “merry heart doeth good like a medicine” Proverbs 17:22. But our hearts can be merry only when our thinking is right.

Scripture tells us that as a man thinketh so is he (Proverbs 23:7). Our thoughts matter. And since that’s so, we need to renew our mind daily with God’s word which tells us not only that we are greatly love, that we are priests and kings, but that we are overcomers, as well. And then there’s this, one of my all-time favorites: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee (God)” Isaiah 26:3.

Make no mistake, it is a battle, but it’s a battle we can win if we fight with the proper weapons.

Until next week,

Sylvia