WEDNESDAY June 5, 2024
The Battle for the Mind
This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind....
Ephesians 4:17
Paul warned believers about the mind––the seat of our thinking. The word mind is speaking of the faculty for recognizing moral good and spiritual truth. The Word of God gives instruction to what is right and wrong. However, the natural man, a person without Christ, cannot discern spiritual truth: But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Those without Christ are described as having a futility of mind. The word futility means “that which is in vain or aimless.” It is an emptiness of mind. For those who do not know God, life has no real purpose––it is worthless. Yet a Christian has purpose in life, and when they die, everything they have done for Christ is not in vain.
This world seeks to influence and seduce the mind, yet God’s Word will renew a Christian’s mind:
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2 NIV).
In guarding your mind, you are encouraged to set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (Colossians 3:2 NIV). Satan targets the mind in his attacks, but God’s Word instructs us how to defeat the enemy:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ... (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
Are you winning the battle for your mind?
Make your thoughts a sanctuary God can inhabit, and don’t let any of the rest of your life dishonor God.
~A.W. Tozer~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
