I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. 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. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Romans 7:21-25 NLT
I believe that spiritual victory is won or lost on the battlefield of the mind. The powers of darkness and the spiritual forces of evil that Paul warns us about in Ephesians 6 are the same Satanic forces that wage war with our minds. They want to make us slaves to sin so that even when we love God with all our heart and we desire to do what is right, we find ourselves trapped in an endless cycle of sin. But there’s good news…
God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. Romans 8:3b-8 NLT
There’s a direct correlation between our thought life and the power sin has over us. Before we actually commit a sinful act, our minds have bought into the lie of the enemy; every sin begins in the mind. We are warned to not allow our sinful nature to control our mind but to yield control to the Holy Spirit. Look at the benefit presented here; letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
So what does control of the mind involve?
- The topics we choose to think about – Are you spending more time thinking about spiritual things or carnal things?
- The thoughts we allow to linger – Are you obsessing over things you know God wants you to let go of?
- The things we give our minds a steady diet of – Are you filling your mind with the Word of God and godly influences?
- Our response to the pressures of life – Is your mind an endless reel of worse case scenarios or are you walking in the strength of the Lord?
- The decisions we make – Does your thought process of decision making start and end with, “What does God want me to do?”
- Our reaction when things go wrong – Do your thoughts go right to the Lord and trust Him with the situation?
Pick up your sword and arm yourself by filling your mind with His word. Since everything you see and hear channels directly to your mind, be careful what you allow to entertain you. Guard your mind by filtering out images, conversations and media that will flood your mind with thoughts that will harm you spiritually.
The mind is a powerful thing! Commitment, resolve and determination all begin in the mind and when guided by the Spirit will provide you with an incredible amount of power over sin in your moments of temptation. So pray and ask the Lord to show you what He wants settled in your mind today. What resolve needs to take root in you now, before the pressures of life invade and the lure of sin calls out to you? Protect yourself by surrendering complete control of your mind to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. Realize that your sinful nature will battle to regain control and ask God to make you aware when that’s happening. The instant you realize your thoughts are outside of the Spirit’s control, stop and re-surrender your mind to God.