|
| |
| Section: Basic Christian Living:
courses for new Christians |
|
Growing in God |
|
3. A Renewed Mind: |
|
|
Taking Charge of Your Thought-life |
2
Corinthians 10:5 'We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.'
The biggest battle-ground
Your mind is a battle-ground
where conflicting thoughts fight for domination of your life.
Before you became a Christian, negative thoughts would often
win, tipping you into depression, maybe even to thoughts of suicide.
But now you can count on Jesus' help so that right thinking can
win the day. Factors
affecting your mind
|
 |
 | Physical factors. Sickness can drive your thoughts along
negative channels. Glandular and hormonal factors, especially
in women, can cause mental stress.
|
| Heredity. Intelligent people, for instance, can
quickly think themselves into a hole. Temperament, too-extrovert,
introvert etc.-is largely hereditary and affects how you think.
|
|
| Age. Forgetfulness and a preoccupation with the past
tend to mark increasing age-though much can be done to prevent
this.
|
| The stresses of modern
life. The rat-race,
unemployment and inability to cope with the rapid changes in
today's world are just a few of the factors causing mental strain.
|
| The power of Jesus. Here's the positive bit for you as
a Christian: |
2
Timothy 1:7
'God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of a sound mind.' (NKJV)
The man called Legion in Mark
5 was a suicidal, demonised and violent recluse, but after his
meeting with Jesus the local people found him 'sitting and clothed
and in his right mind' (Mark 5:15). If there was hope
for him, there's certainly hope for you!
Mind dethroned;
God enthroned
|
Your education
taught you that Mind is king, that your thoughts can range where
they will, and that no-one can legislate for what goes on in
your head. But God is a greater King than Mind, and he
claims the rule over your thought-life. Indeed, the acknowledgement
of his rule is where all right thinking begins:
Proverbs
1:7
'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.'
In practice, what does this
mean?
a. Your
mind subject to God's Word
|
 |
It means submitting your mind
to God's Word, the Bible. Take, for instance, the question of
how the universe came into being. Scientists have put forward
several theories, but the Bible says that God created it directly:
Hebrews
11:3
'By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's
command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.'
Note the phrase, 'By faith
we understand'. Faith is taking God at his word; we believe it
because he says it. Most people would say, 'By thinking
we understand' or, 'By investigating we understand', but
for you as a Christian there's also this other way: by faith.
b. Your
mind subject to the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit will show you
things you couldn't learn by any other means. 'You have an anointing
from the Holy One,' John tells us, 'and…you know the truth'
(1 John 2:20).
|
 |
He'll convince
you, for instance, that you really are God's child, saved and
loved by him (Romans 8:16). See also 1 Corinthians 2:9-12.
There are restrictions on our
thinking as Christians—and a good thing, too.
|
| Restriction isn't always bad.
A train runs best when restricted to the rails. A game of rugby goes best
when restricted to the rules. And your thought-life will be most productive
when restricted to God's guidelines. This doesn't mean committing
intellectual suicide. On the contrary—as we shall see.
God
delegates the rule to you
When you submit your mind to
God, he returns it to you, saying, 'Look after it on my behalf'.
He delegates control of your thought-life to you.
a. Choosing
what you think about
God trusts you to think about
the right things. You can—and must—choose what you
think about:
Philippians
4:8
'Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything
is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.'
Colossians
3:2
'Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.'
b. Dealing
with intrusive thoughts
Sometimes you'll find unpleasant
or downright wicked thoughts in your mind, often in your most
holy moments. You didn't invite them in; they just gatecrashed
your brain. What should you do?
| Throw them out. You're in charge of your mind, so
send those bad thoughts packing.
|
| Invite some good thoughts
in. Fill your mind
with good and wholesome thoughts, so there's no room for the
bad thoughts to get back in. Recall some happy moment, revisit
in your imagination that lovely spot you enjoyed so much. Meditate
on a Bible verse you've memorised.
|
| Check the entry points.
Keep a watch on the four entry points
where bad thoughts commonly get into your mind. These are:
|
|
| 1. Eye Gate. Are you watching nasty TV programmes
and videos or reading salacious novels? Do you have a lustful
eye? Job said, 'I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully
at a girl' (Job 31:1). You, too, can lay down some ground rules
about what you allow into your mind through Eye Gate.
2. Ear Gate. Most people's conversation is negative.
It's full of belly-aching and bad language. Determine not to
let it affect you. Take care what music you listen to. Much popular
music is mind-numbing and the words of the songs may be unhelpful,
too. Judge music with your spirit.
3. Memory Gate. Like everyone else, you have some
bad memories. You may have committed a crime or been the victim
of sexual abuse. You may have had a major dispute with another
person and, even though it's been sorted out, you still feel
strong resentment. Put such thoughts under house arrest. Don't
let them out to pollute your thinking.
|
 |
|
Forgive and forget. Forgetting doesn't mean trying to
erase the tape of memory; that's impossible. It means doing what
God does when he says, 'I will forgive their wickedness and will
remember their sins no more' (Jeremiah 31:34).
He simply determines never to bring the issue up again. 4. Habit
Gate. Before you came
to Christ your habits were nearly all bad ones because your nature
was sinful. But now you're a Christian and…
2 Corinthians
5:17 'If
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
gone, the new has come.'
Your nature is now to love
and serve God. But because you're a creature of habit, the old
patterns of thinking keep reappearing, and this can be distressing.
When the old thinking tries to breeze in, just like in old times,
challenge it straight away and send it out. There's been a change
of management in your mind now!
|
Demolishing
mental strongholds
Paul talks about 'strongholds'
of the mind. It's a military image. Occupying forces can be driven
out of your mental territory bit by bit as you exert your authority
in Christ. But sometimes certain thoughts may occupy a castle
in your mind, barricade themselves in and resist eviction:
|
 |
2 Corinthians
10:4-5
'The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought
to make it obedient to Christ.'
These 'strongholds'
are areas of ungodly thinking where you can't seem to get the
mastery, in spite of much prayer and determination. They may
be fears or phobias. They may be leftovers from dabbling with
a ouija board or some other occult activity. Here's where you
need the help of Christian friends, because together you
and they can achieve what you couldn't manage alone.
Speak to one of the church
leaders if you think you may be in this situation. They'll advise
and encourage you, then pray with you specifically to 'demolish'
the stronghold and see the enemy in your mind thrown out. After
that, you'll be able to maintain the victory yourself. Metamorphosis
|
 |
Romans
12:2
'Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind.'
2 Corinthians
3:18
'We…are being transformed into his likeness.'
|
| The word 'transformed' here
is literally 'metamorphosed'. In biology, metamorphosis is the
process by which a dull brown caterpillar, for example, becomes
a gorgeous butterfly. Your own character-metamorphosis
is also a process. It takes time, and it comes about 'by the
renewing of your mind'. Little by little you're becoming more
like the Lord Jesus; his character is becoming yours.
It's a process in which you
must co-operate. God is doing his part: he has given you
a new heart, inclined to do his will, and has put his Holy Spirit
within you. You, for your part, must 'work out your salvation'
in the light of that:
Philippians
2:12-13
'Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according
to his good purpose.'
'Work out' doesn't mean 'earn',
of course; salvation is a free gift from God. It means 'develop'.
Just as gold-bearing ore has to be 'worked out' to the surface
by mining so that it can be fashioned into beautiful jewellery,
the precious gold of your salvation needs to come to the surface
so that your Christlike character can be seen by all.
This is a 'mind' thing. Whatever
dominates your mind will dictate your character: 'As he thinks
within himself, so he is' (Proverbs 23:7 NASB). Determine,
then, to let your mind be dominated by godly influences from
within rather than by ungodly influences from the world:
Romans
8:5-6 'Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds
set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance
with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by
the Spirit is life and peace.'
|
 |
Ruts
in the track
A farmer's Land Rover has worn
ruts in the farm track. It runs along them like a tram on tram-lines.
Similarly, your mind before you became a Christian was rutted
with the traffic of unrighteous thinking. Ungodly thoughts rode
comfortably there.
|
| But suppose there's a change
of farmer. The new man's Suzuki doesn't fit the ruts and he has
to work hard at keeping it on the track. But if he persists,
the Suzuki will eventually wear new ruts that make driving up
the track a lot easier. Then, it's the Land Rover that will have
a hard time. As a new Christian,
you'll need to work hard at driving godly thoughts along your
mind-tracks, but in time it will become easier. So stick with
it, and the time will come when the old thoughts have a rough
ride. And as your thoughts become more godly, so will your character.
A mind at
peace
Philippians
4:6-7
'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer
and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'
Everyone longs for peace of
mind. As a Christian it can be yours, as this instructive verse
explains:
1. Don't be anxious. The way Paul puts it, that's an order.
You can choose not to be anxious, refusing to let your
mind dwell on the issue that's worrying you.
2. Commit the issue to God.
Instead of worrying,
talk frankly to the Lord about it, requesting him to take the
burden onto his own broad shoulders. Be sure to include your
'thanksgiving'.
3. Let God's peace stand
guard. You won't understand
how this works because it 'transcends all understanding'. It's
a matter of faith rather than intellect. But you'll find God's
own peace guarding your heart and mind, even when the cause of
the anxiety is still present. God's peace can stand guard effectively
because it's stronger than your heart and mind.
Follow all these guidelines
and enjoy your Christian inheritance: a sound mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
Learn by
heart |
2 Corinthians 10:5
'We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets
itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to
make it obedient to Christ.' |
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------- |
|
If you have found this lesson particularly
helpful, you might like to look at my book, A Sound
Mind, which goes into greater detail on the subject. You can read
the first few chapters online, then, if you want to continue, download the
whole book for reading offline. |
--------------------------------------------------------------
   |
|
