There are some mindset things that I struggle with. Your mind can be impacted by negative conversations, images, and social media. The battle of the mind is a worthy battle to fight because your mindset usually controls your emotions and your actions. Many of us are losing the battle of the mind. The Bible tells us that we can be transformed by renewing our minds. We can renew our minds by replacing negative things with worthy stuff.
Philippians 4:8-9
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. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
1. Dwell on the right things.
The first step to renew your mind is to dwell on the worthy things. This leads to doing the right things, then the God of peace will be with you along the way. What have you been thinking about? What’s been consuming your thoughts? Let’s work on replacing that mindset with a better mindset.
God created you with an understanding of right and wrong. Paul doesn’t tell us to stop doing the wrong things. He tells us to dwell or give careful thought or pay special attention to the things that are good, true, pure, and lovely.
What are you giving careful thought to throughout the day? Transform your thoughts by taking each thought captive and submitting it to Christ. You take captives in war. Take every thought captive by thinking of these worthy things.
Choose the thoughts you expose yourself to, rather than allowing others to define your thoughts. There is a standard of right and wrong. God created us and reveals His standard of Truth in the Bible. Jesus came to give us the power to live up to God’s standard of truth. When you repent and believe in Jesus, and choose the right things, you inherit the victory of living according to His ways and His standards.
2. Dwell on the truth.
Truth starts with honesty, and genuineness, absent from agenda-driven ideology that’s driven by the culture we live in today. We know what male and female is for example. You can be dishonest with yourself and deny God’s truth.
If you’re going to dwell on the truth, we must lean on the standard of truth God has given us. You can see truth all around us. When you see truth, dwell on the truth. Every time you open the Word of God, you hear the voice of Truth.
If we compromise to any other truth other than the word of God, we fall into the world’s view of justice and righteousness. We underappreciate what God appreciates. We corrupt marriage, choosing hate over love. We must adopt God’s standard of truth. We cannot replace God’s truth for a lie.
3. Dwell on what is noble.
Honorable things are things that are worthy of respect. What are those things today that are noble, honorable, and respectable by you and by God? These are things you see Jesus doing such as kindness and mercy.
With the woman at well, you saw gentleness, kindness, love and truth in Jesus. In the story of the Good Samaritan, the Good Samaritan stopped and did the honorable and right thing. This is the only thing that a Christian should do. Dwell on the things that are right and the things that are fair.
4. Dwell on what is right.
This isn’t just my standard of right and wrong, but it’s God’s standard of right and wrong. The more time you spend with God, the more you’ll be able to see what is right, wrong and honorable. The more time you spend with God, the more righteous you will become.
5. Dwell on what is pure.
We live in an oversexualized society. Sex sells almost everything in our society. Sexual impurity is all around us – in movies, social media, television, and everywhere.
Seek things that are pure. Dwell on those things. There are so many things that are not pure. It’s going to take accountability to dwell on the things that are pure. Self-accountability causes you to get proactive about removing temptation. You can put app limits on the phone for yourself. You can put on the parental controls for yourself. You can get help, but it starts with you.
6. Dwell on what is lovely.
When I think of lovely things, I think of God’s creation. Stay in the space where you’re appreciating the life-giving water of God’s presence and His Word. God can give you revelation when you take a moment to appreciate the beauty of life, art, music, and creation. Can you experience the beautiful things in life with an appreciation and awe of God?
7. Dwell on what is worthy of praise.
If Jesus knows everything you’re thinking and He’s always with you, would Jesus consider your thoughts and actions praiseworthy? Start choosing the things that are worthy, lovely, pure, right and honorable in your life.
Once God has allowed you to overwhelm the negative stuff, you must do the right things. Don’t just think the right way but do the right things. You can’t change your behavior before you change your mindset, otherwise, you fall into legalism and religiosity.
Renewing your mind frees you from the burden of guilt associated with consuming the negativity of the world. Disobedience leads to guilt and shame. When you dwell on the things that are pure, lovely and true, your mind is renewed and the God of peace will be with you.
