I’ve always heard that mind is a terrible thing to waste.
I also believe that a mind is terribly hard to control.
Seriously. Maybe you have the ability to control your thoughts all mastered, but I sure don’t. One tiny event, action, news story or comment from someone can send my otherwise Christ-centered, balanced, content and peaceful mind spinning in the wrong direction faster than a merry-go-round on an elementary school playground.
And the enemy of my soul absolutely LOVES it. Gives him great material to work with. Jerkface.
Let me give you an example…
Let’s say I’m out for a run and I hear sirens. No big deal, right? As long as I have my everything focused on Christ, yeah, it’s no big deal. But sometimes my woman brain kicks into motion before I even realize what is happening. I hear the siren, and I think, “I wonder where it’s going” which turns into “I hope they are ok” which turns into “It sounds like it’s headed in the direction of where my husband works (which is a huge place)” which turns into “What if my husband is hurt/was in an accident/etc” and BOOM.
There I am. Worried about something that isn’t even legit. And worry is a sin because it shows that I am not trusting God with my day/life/plans.
BAH. It’s such a frustrating cycle to break.
Then of course the Enemy gets involved and tries to play up my fears/worries/insecurities/need to control/etc.
It’s precious. (Not.)
Scripture says A LOT about the power of mind control. (No, not controlling OTHER people’s minds… controlling our own thoughts.) Romans 8:6 says, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”
Pretty simple, huh? The mind of us as sinners equals death… But when we let God control our minds, we experience constant life and peace.
Via deeplifequotes @ Flickr
You all know that I am a sucker for analogies, so I liken this concept to the airport security system. Our thoughts are the carry-on bags going through the nifty little X-ray machine… and Jesus is the TSA agent. We need to let Him sort through our thoughts and decide if they pass the test of worthy, holy, and pure. The yucky ones that don’t make the cut? Yep, they are confiscated. Junked. Trashed. Deleted. Whatever you want to call it– they are GONE.
2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us of this truth as well. “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.”
So what do we do when our minds start to spin out of control? Well, we can run it through the Jesus filter. It has worked pretty well for me as of late… I often refer to Philippians 4:8~ “Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.”
If your thoughts that pop into your head don’t fit any of those descriptors, more than likely they are junk. Don’t give the enemy a foothold by thinking about the yuck that we have no control over. Instead, we can take every thought, run it through our nifty little Jesus filter and take it captive to Christ.
Now THAT is the power of mind control… Through Christ.
Minding Jesus,
SGK
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” ~Isaiah 55:9 NIV
