The Battle for Your Mind

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

- Romans 12:2

Winning the battle for your mind is critical to growing in Christ. Check out the three-part video series on the topic (below).

Right Thinking

Look at the phrase "think about these things". Other translations say "meditate" or "let your mind dwell". It means to reckon, to calculate, to count. We need to think right.

Faith, according to our Lord’s teaching in this paragraph, is primarily thinking; and the whole trouble with a man of little faith is that he does not think. He allows circumstances to bludgeon him. That is the real difficulty in life. Life comes to us with a club in its hand and strikes us upon the head, and we become incapable of thought, helpless and defeated. The way to avoid that, according to our Lord, is to think. We must spend more time in studying our Lord’s lessons in observation and deduction. The Bible is full of logic, and we must never think of faith as something purely mystical. We do not just sit down in an armchair and expect marvelous things to happen to us. That is not Christian faith. Christian faith is essentially thinking. Look at the birds, think about them, and draw your deductions. Look at the grass, look at the lilies of the field, consider them.

The trouble with most people, however, is that they will not think. Instead of doing this, they sit down and ask, What is going to happen to me? What can I do? That is the absence of thought; it is surrender, it is defeat. Our Lord, here, is urging us to think, and to think in a Christian manner. That is the very essence of faith. Faith, if you like, can be defined like this: It is a man insisting upon thinking when everything seems determined to bludgeon and knock him down in an intellectual sense. The trouble with the person of little faith is that, instead of controlling his own thought, his thought is being controlled by something else, and, as we put it, he goes round and round in circles. That is the essence of worry… . That is not thought; that is the absence of thought, a failure to think. 

- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Matthew 6:25-34

Whatever is true

"Truth is whatever conforms to the gospel and the revelation of God's will in his Word. Truth is whatever conforms to objective reality" - Sam Storms.

In an ever-changing world that believes truth is whatever is true for you and that there is no such thing as universal truth, we need to be careful that our thinking is correct and that it is grounded in the truth.

Action: we need to be eager to hear God's Word, study God's Word, and practice the truths of God's Word in our own lives. Because when we know the truth we will recognise wrong thinking and we will know what to do about it.

Whatever is honourable

The word here means whatever is dignified or worthy of respect, or that which is majestic or inspires reverence or awe, in contrast with things that are crude, vulgar, frivolous, or trivial.

It doesn't mean we can't appreciate humour or have fun, but our overall approach to things we look at, listen to, and consume should be that we view things that lift the mind rather than dragging it through the gutter.

Action: are we careful in what we consume, watch, and look at online, on social media, and on our screens and devices? 

Whatever is just

Some translations say whatever is "right", a word used of God Himself who is righteous. To think on things that are "just" or "right" to think and live in light of what is right in God's eyes, according to God's standard.

We live in a day when notions of ultimate justice and righteousness are ignored at best and mocked at worst.

In our complex world, the specifics of “doing justice” and “social justice” are multilayered. Treating them as simplistic slogans — either advocated or dismissed — is itself an injustice. But we must harbor no doubt that divine justice carries social implications, and that God’s people must pursue biblical justice in every arena of society.

- Mark Kelly

Action: we need to think carefully about how we can think justly, and then act justly. Consider how you might grow in your understanding of biblical justice. You could start here or here.

Whatever is pure

"Pure" here is not limited to only sexual purity, although it is certainly not less than this, but extends to all areas of moral purity in thought, speech, and actions. It's a call to holy living.

Action: Consider these diagnostic questions based on 1 Corinthians from Joel Beeke, that provide a biblical framework for holy living.

1. Does this glorify God? 1 Cor 10:31
2. Is this consistent with the lordship of Chirst? 1 Cor 7:23
3. Is this consistent with biblical examples? 1 Cor 11:1
4. Is this lawful and beneficial for me - spiritually, mentally and physically? 1 Cor 6:9-12
5. Does this help others positively and not hurt others unnecessarily? 1 Cor 10:33; 8:13
6. Does this bring me under any enslaving power? 1 Cor 6:12

Whatever is lovely

This word only appears here in the New Testament and has the meaning “that which calls forth love". 

“Lovely” includes not only what is morally lovely but what is aesthetically lovely—“all that is beautiful in creation and in human lives”—from a sunset to a symphony to caring for the poor and powerless—all things beautiful

- R.K. Hughes

Action: what "lovely" things do you enjoy? How can you fill your life with such things that "calls forth love"? Go and enjoy them for the glory of God!

Whatever is commendable

He has in mind those things which, on being seen or heard or encountered, lead everyone to exclaim, “Well done!” He’s talking about deeds and thoughts that by their very nature move people to admiration and praise.

- Sam Storms

Action: what actions can you undertake, that point people to Jesus, that might be spoken of highly by others? We don't do things to receive praise from others but so that God might be glorified, the church built up, and the lost pointed to Jesus.

If there is any excellence

What is excellence? Culturally that word could mean any number of things. But Paul doesn't want his readers to be conditioned by the culture...

Paul doesn’t want these Philippian Christians to be overwhelmed and spiritually formed by the underbelly of Philippi. Instead, Paul tells them to think about the moral excellence and virtue they see around them—wherever they can find it. Since all truth is God’s truth, all excellence is God’s excellence too—the imago Dei is not lost. Excellence echoes.

- J.A. Medders

These Philippian believers could think of the humility, servanthood, and love they saw in Paul—and they are to imitate it in their lives. “Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil 4:9, CSB). Echo the excellence.

Action: What moral excellence, noticeable character, and acknowledgeable virtue do you see around you? Look for it. Think on it. Learn from it. Imitate it.

If there is anything worthy of praise

Of course, every attribute and deed of God is praiseworthy, and so we should daily think about how great God is and on the marvelous works He has done, both in creation and in history. Toward other people, even toward those in the world, we should be gracious by focusing on their strong points and good qualities. Even though we all are depraved by nature, because of God’s common grace even unbelieving people can be kind, caring, and loving. Ultimately those qualities, even in unbelievers, do not bring glory to the person, but to God. So we should be appreciative and affirming toward people rather than negative and critical.

- Steven J.Cole

Action: what are the implications of the quote above for how we live our lives on a daily basis? How is our worship going? How can we be appreciative and affirming toward people?