Mind Games

Two of your closest friends are whispering to each other, glancing at you

every now and then, giggling. What thoughts enter your head? Does your mind

spin something negative without knowing the truth of the situation? Spoiler

alert: Your friends were actually planning a surprise birthday party for

you!

Over a few days, you send multiple texts to a family member and even try to

call them, but they never get back to you. Where does your mind go? Do you

spend the days anxiously wondering if something you did or said upset them,

only to discover their phone was acting up?

Our minds play gamesand not always the fun kind. How can we rein in those

thoughts that whiz through our brains faster than the speed of light? If

you’ve put your trust in Jesus, you are a child of God, and you have the

Holy Spirit’s power in you to help you take your thoughts captive before

they start making destructive pathways in your brain. It won’t be easy

since our minds tend to drift toward the worst-case scenario, but with

God’s help we can take captive every thought to make it obedient to

Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

In Colossians 3, Paul says, Set your minds on things above, not on earthly

things (verse 2). As followers of Jesus, we can practice thinking

differently than we did before Jesus was the Lord of our lives. Jesus died

for all our sins and rose again victorious; we have been raised with Him by

believing in His sacrifice. Therefore, Christ is our life (verse 3), and we

can practice dwelling on thought patterns consistent with our new self

(verse 10).

When our minds play games, Philippians 4 reminds us that we have God’s

peace to guard not only our hearts but also our minds in Christ Jesus

(verse 7). When thoughts enter, we have a choice to let them spread chaos

or to evaluate them before they marinate in our minds. Verse 8 is the

ultimate mind monitor: Is this thought true? Is this thought pure? Is this

thought lovely? Is it admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy? When troubling

thoughts threaten to take control of our minds, we can turn to Jesus and

behold HimHe is always true, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and

worthy of our praise. And His love for us is sure. Savannah Coleman

When our minds play games, how could it help to remember what Jesus has

done for us?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is

admirableif anything is excellent or praiseworthythink about such things.

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Philippians 4:4-Philippians 4:8; Colossians 3:1-Colossians 3:17; Philippians 4:8