Fight for your mind
Fight for your mind.
There is a reason why the Bible refers to the renewing of our minds repeatedly. It's because there is power in our thoughts. There is power in what we choose to think about, meditate on, and speak out. I have struggled with negativity, anxiety, and despair in different areas of my life, and one of the first things God spoke over me and to me was “ Daughter I want to renew and free your mind.” For years I was plagued with destructive thoughts and some of these thoughts led to very real choices.
When I first came to Christ, I struggled to believe that I could renew my mind and there was some truth there, I couldn’t. Not on my own, it only came with surrender day after day, time after time. Asking God to help me. Asking God what His thoughts are, what His words are, what He thinks of me. I struggled with low self-esteem and self-worth for most of my life, and when I came to Christ, that was the first thing He wanted to work on.
What I thought about my identity and who I was.
I was living in lies and lies that had been spoken over me. I chose daily to partner with God in the renewal of my mind. This did not happen immediately. For almost two years after coming back to Jesus, I still woke up every day with obsessive and destructive thoughts, I still heard the voices that screamed obscenities over who I truly was and the mistakes I made. But I chose. I chose to get up, I chose to immerse myself in God's word and ask Him over and over. God, what do you say? What is the truth here? What do you say about me?
And do you want to know what His answer was? He said I was chosen, called, known, seen, loved, forgiven, and set free. I am sharing this today to let you know, you can be free. You have a helper in this fight, The Holy Spirit. He's readily available to fight these battles with you.
Romans 12:2 says "Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Ephesians 6:10-17 mentions putting on the full armor of God, the helmet of salvation, the shoes of peace, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shield of faith, and the sword of the spirit. God asks us to put our armor on and stand strong with Him. He is always encouraging us to walk forward and to move with Him. He is not a stagnant God, and He does not call us to be stagnant in this fight either. When your thoughts change, the people around you change, the way you think about yourself changes, your perspectives on life change, the choices you make change, and ultimately your life changes. This is a war for your mind, a war for your peace, and a war for your identity. It is a war that we will fight till our time here is up, but it is also a war that we can choose to already have victory over.
2nd Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (NIV)
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." (NIV)
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (ESV)
The Armor of God
EPHESIANS 6: 10-17
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (NIV)
