To renew means to restore or refresh. To get victory over sin you have to renew your mind and have the mind of Christ. Do you want to have God's thoughts? Do you want to be Holy and walk in victory? Get wrong thinking out by reading the Bible and refresh and renew your mind on His words and His thoughts. Dwelling on bad things will only bring you down. Thinking on right things is a discipline to learn.
Romans 12:1-2 says "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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." This world and all of its' glamour and glitter is not our real home. We are only here on a temporary basis. For those who have given their lives to Jesus their real home awaits them in heaven. We are not to necessarily become monks but we are to be thinking good thoughts and focusing on the right things. There is plenty of bad junk out there to think on. Just turn on your TV. A follower of Christ should not have a desire to be laughing at a bunch of crude things in my opinion. Laughter is fine but it depends on what you are laughing about.
Philippians 4:8 says "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." You can spend one hour each week in church but that is not enough to keep your mind on God's thoughts. If you exit the doors of the church building and decide the remainder of the week to do as you please, thinking nothing about what you learned in church or never even opening God's word, the Bible, you have basically not renewed your mind at all. Instead you have fed your mind all week long on the worlds' junk with no teaching each day from God's word. It is a challenge without being self righteous to live a life each and every day that is pleasing to the Lord. You simply went to church to 'punch your ticket' so to speak.
In Galatians 5:16 it says " So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Stay in tune with God's teaching in the Bible. It is a guidebook for your life. Romans 8:5-6 says "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."
Constantly be on guard for Satan's lies and tricks. Stay in the word. Whatever you have problems with study that area.For instance if you have problems with having trouble with your mouth study the Bible for verses on the mouth and dangers of the tongue and bad speech. The key is to pray and stay in the word of God. Try to show more of God's love and do no overreact to bad stuff that gets thrown in your path. Acting 'holier than thou' is not what we are after but seeking to live a life pleasing to the Lord.
Do not believe enemies lies. Many people feel stuck in their sin and addictions. You can be set free. You have to keep mind set on things above and realize and admit certain things in your life are sin and God wants you set free from these things which have a 'strong hold' on your life. The enemy is crafty and full of tricks and deceit. He will lie and make you feel in your mind that you are stuck and can never be set free or God is mad at you. You are not stuck and God is not mad at you! See that mind plays tricks with you.
Do you want to be able to be more conformed to the image of Christ? It starts by picking up the Bible and getting to know the character of Jesus Christ. Your mind is a precious thing. But we should be careful what we allow to go into our brains and thus our thoughts.
Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Now go and feed your mind on the things that will build up not tear down and destroy. The mind is powerful so protect it!
PRAYER: There have been times Lord when I have not always kept my mind pure. I have watched the wrong movies or seen the wrong TV shows and put things into my mind that had no business being there. Forgive me and help me in the future to be more discerning of what I allow inside my head. I want to think your thoughts Lord so I ask for your help to live a life pleasing to you and to keep my mind free from worry, doubts, and the cares of this world. In Jesus Name. Amen!
Suggested reading: Book by Joyce Meyer called 'Battlefield of the Mind.'
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