It’s a battle for your mind …

In our culture, it’s almost considered cool to not think very much.

You’ll hear, “Don’t overthink it …,” “You think too much …,” or “Just don’t think too much about it …”

The problem so many of us face isn’t that we think too much but that we think too little. We flood our minds with information and data, but give significant mental focus to very little of what is actually important. So often, we’re just operating on auto pilot and the idea of giving any serious amount of time or attention to “deep” thought is something we think is the arena of professors or wise men of days gone by.

Gary Collins highlighted in “Magnificent Mind” our penchant for not applying our minds to even the most trivial of things …

“People often don’t think things through. A New York tire company mailed discount coupons to 20,000 homes each month for eight months. The coupons were dated and valid only for the month in which they were mailed. One of the coupons promised to give a vehicle inspection for $1.99 instead of for the regular $3.00 price. In the fourth mailing however, the printer made a mistake and the coupon price was $2.99, a one penny savings. When researchers compared the number of car inspections before, during, and after the error it was found that the coupons attracted as many new customers when they read $2.99 as they did during the other months.”

The danger in not paying attention to what’s in our own minds is that we are always — consciously or unconsciously — talking to ourselves. For example, have you ever been driving for several miles down a highway and suddenly realize you don’t remember being aware of driving those miles? That’s because you were unconsciously engrossed in self-talk while operating your vehicle on auto pilot.

Someone once wrote, “The greatest preacher you’ll ever hear is yourself (regarding the endless prattle in the mind – we listen to our own voice more than any other).”

Because we listen most to what we fill our minds with, the spiritual battle we face in life is a battle for your mind.

Psychology informs us that our thoughts create our emotions, and the pairing of our thoughts and emotions create our behavior. Thus, if you want to change behavior you must change your thinking. If you want to change your emotions you must change your thinking. And if you want to change your thinking, you’ll have to apply focus to your thoughts and what you’re putting into your mind, chiefly by who or what you’re listening to and what you’re saying to yourself.

The Apostle Paul pointed to this battle of the mind when he wrote …

But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. – Romans 7:23

Jesus taught us that the greatest purpose we can apply our minds to is that of loving God …

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment,” Matthew 22:37.

In war, captors often try to mess with the minds of captives. One method is to give them a shovel, point to a huge pile of dirt, and tell them to move it to another point. Once that is done, they tell them to move it back. The idea is to remove their sense of purpose. That’s what our enemy, Satan attempts to do — to redirect our minds from our purpose of worshiping, glorifying, and enjoying God. Sin wages war with our minds so that we won’t love God with all of our mind. Again, Paul describes this battle for us …

“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses,” Galatians 5:16-18.

War is waged against the mind because when you win the mind, you gain control of the man.

That’s why scripture teaches us that in order to win the battle for our minds we must be born again and have our minds renewed by the Holy Spirit …

Someone once equated this renewing of our minds like going to an IMax theater and watching a three-dimensional movie. You’re thinking, “This isn’t three-dimensional, it’s only two-dimensional” when someone nudges you and says, “You’ve got to put the glasses on.” “Oh,” you respond, “now I see!”

When we are born again and our lives are transformed by the Holy Spirit, our minds are made like Christ’s mind …

“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God,'” John 3:3.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect,” Romans 12:2.

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes,” Ephesians 4:21-23.

“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had,” Philippians 2:5.

For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. – 1 Corinthians 2:16

We can win the battle for our minds only through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that enables us to be born again and have our minds renewed by the Holy Spirit as new creations in Christ. And once we have been born again, we have to use our minds differently …

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise,” Philippians 4:8

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth,” Colossians 3:1-2.

Winning the battle of our minds through Jesus Christ has great rewards, which includes this …

“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you,” Isaiah 26:3.

So, what are you thinking about? What are you doing with your mind?

Scotty