“Back in my day” . . . This statement is often shared by our grandparents as they let us know how lucky we have it today to not have to do whatever it was that they had to do. Often times, these ‘back in my day’ stories start with the miles they had to walk every day to school in the freezing cold with snow up piled up to their shoulders. If that weren’t dramatic enough, somehow all of this occurred at insane hours of the day and was unbelievably ‘uphill both ways!’ You can imagine that this ‘uphill both ways’ route taken each day would have, over time, created a beaten path. Why? Because most likely they would take the same route every single day. Eventually, this route would become routine, and to venture off the well-worn path would be difficult to do because they were so used to walking that same way. In order to change the way they were used to travelling, they would have to consciously choose to walk a different direction. And then eventually over time, a new path would form in the grass along their alternative route. Pastor Craig Groeschel in his newest book, Winning the War in Your Mind, argues that this is what happens in our minds when we perform the same actions every day; neuron pathways form creating well-worn, familiar routes that we subconsciously continue to ‘walk’. If these actions are good, then this is great news! But if these are habits or ungodly ways of living that, as believers, we want to walk away from, this can be a big struggle.
“For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.”
Romans 7:15-19
Do you struggle in this way? Maybe you’re not a Christian, maybe you’re a brand new believer or maybe you’ve been walking with Jesus for a long time. No matter where you are at in your journey with Jesus, I bet you can agree that there have been times where you have desired to do something so badly, to make a change in your life, be a better parent, friend, co-worker, or even just have some healthier habits, but it feels impossible to make that change. Same, friend. Same. These verses in Romans 7 are Paul’s honest, Spirit-filled conversation with his friends in Rome. He is a human who, just like you and I, struggled with the push and pull of life; the world leading one way, God’s Spirit leading another. A guy who, although a lover of Jesus, daily experienced the unseen spiritual battle . . . both externally and internally. Do you love Jesus? In the midst of loving Jesus and trying to live your life for Him, do you struggle with depression? Addiction? Lying? A negative self-image? Pride? The battle ground for each of these struggles is entrenched into our identities and into our daily thoughts. They are the well-worn pathways that you have easily walked your whole life. They may be something we outwardly struggle with, but they began by being thoughts that rooted themselves in your mind. It is crazy to think of the power our thoughts hold. In fact, the thoughts we think matter. They have the power to manifest, move, change and even affect our reality . . . whether negatively or positively. Pastor Craig Groeschel says that if we can change our thinking, then we can change our life.
Pastor Craig’s new book was inspired by a sermon series that he preached a few years ago called “Mastermind”. I would definitely recommend giving this series a listen to as it was highly impactful to me. I listened to each message a handful of times, sharing it with family and friends and leading a few of my young adults through one on one discipleship time, hand in hand with God’s Word and these messages. These four sermons even gave inspiration to my blog post from June of last year entitled The Wanderlust Mind. In this post, I reference a question that is a common thread throughout both his “Mastermind” series as well as this new book. The question is this: Do you think about what you think about? I think that most of us, if we are self aware in any way, will agree that a lot goes on in our minds. Often times we are thinking thoughts that we are completely unaware of. But, just because we are unaware of them does not mean that they are not affecting our lives significantly.
“A lie believed as a truth will affect your life as if it were true.”
Craig Groeschel, Winning the War In Your Mind, pg. 12-13
A lie is a lie. No matter how many times you say it, how many different ways you say it, or who you say it to, there is no changing the stripes on that zebra! But, Pastor Craig argues that the more we think on a lie, the more we begin to believe it to be true. It then has the power to affect our lives as if it were true. He tells a hilarious story of his friend who he ‘locks’ in a closet. Truly he just told his friend the closet was locked and that he wasn’t going to let him out. His friend didn’t even try to open the door . . . he believed it was locked and that he was trapped inside because that’s what he had been told. And because he believed that and didn’t try to get out through the door, he actually was locked in! This is the same as our lives. A lie that you believe as truth gives that lie undeserved power and control in your life.
In my opinion, the greatest lie that Satan tries to get every believer to believe is that God doesn’t love us like He says He does. I mean, look at Adam and Eve. Right from the beginning, Satan made Eve question whether or not God really had her best in mind, convincing her that God was holding something good and wonderful from her grasp. And guess what? She believed him. She believed Satan so much that she put obedience and relationship with God to the side. It was not true, but she believed it to be true. The rest is . . . well, history.
“He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’
Genesis 3:1-5
‘No! You will certainly not die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'”
If every believer truly believed, one hundred percent, without a doubt, in God’s never ending, wonderful, earth-changing, pure love for them I think that we would have far less problems; less problems in our own lives, in our relationships, in our churches and in the world. Believing the lie that God’s love for us is any less than it actually is breeds insecure people who spend their lives working to prove their worth and believing lies about who they are.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rules, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39
There are many lies that incapacitate and hinder us from living the life that God intends for us. Understanding our worth and the love that Christ has for us is just one. What other lies are you listening to and believing that are affecting your life as if they are true? Or, what lie are you believing about God that has effected your relationship with Him because of the power you are giving to it?
Speaking of lies, the father of lies and all things not true, do you think that God, our perfect Father, would leave us defenseless against such attacks? Not only does God warn us about the unseen attacks, but He equips us to demolish all strongholds through the power of His Spirit. So why do we often defenselessly raise our white flags in surrender to the fiery arrows that come our way? Do we not believe we have a greater power in us than the one waging war against us in the world? Or do we not believe that our God truly is the most powerful, always victorious and undefeatable? Pastor Craig argues that many Christians don’t bother to wage war. He says that this is a dangerous place to be in, because even if we don’t engage in the war, the war is still happening and its effects are still fighting against us. By not waging war and not recognizing the war daily, we are choosing to lose.
“Yet Paul said, ‘We do not wage war as the world does’ (2 Cor. 10:3). The problem is that many Christians don’t wage war at all. Satan is assaulting us with evil. He’s delivering blows of deception and bombarding us with lies. But we can be oblivious to the attacks.”
Craig Groeschel, Winning the War in Your Mind, pg. 30
Personally, I don’t mind being a loser. I know not everyone is like this, but I like playing games and sports for the fun and enjoyment you get by spending time with people . . . except when it comes to my husband. Whenever Byron and I play anything against one another, GAME ON! I will take you down, destroy you and become the victor! My competitive side lights up the second we sit down against one another in combat. The unfortunate part is, either he is really good at games or he has one hundred horseshoes up his butt, because he often wins. Often might even be generous . . . We have one game that we cannot play any longer for the sake of our marriage. I have literally never won. And we have played over twenty times. For the well-being of our marriage we now have to stick to playing team games only on date night! This kind of competitive, hulk smash, ‘I will destroy you’ mentality should come out of us believers when it comes to the father of lies and the lies waging war in our mind. If you’re like me and don’t mind being a loser, start to mind being a loser about this, because this is truly life or death. This matters. And it matters every single day.
So, now what? Engage in the battle. Recognize that it’s happening to you and effecting you daily whether or not you choose to engage. What do soldiers do? Soldiers who are fighting to lose don’t bother to do anything. They may even just sit down in the middle of no man’s land with no armor or weapons and a target strapped to their chest. On the other hand, soldiers who fight to win will put on their armor and pick up their sword.
“For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand.”
Ephesians 6:13
And God equips believers with a spiritual armor to put on to fight against the unseen, spiritual battle! If you haven’t read my blog post on the Armor of God, give it a read. Over the last few years I have learned so much about what it means to engage in the battle. It all started when I was doing a Bible study with some friends on Ephesians 6. While reading through Scripture on the armor of God my one friend casually said: “Oh, I pray the armor of God on myself every day. My mom used to do that with me when I was a kid. So now, that’s just what I do every day when I wake up.” WHAT?! You do that every day? I couldn’t believe it. But, even though she sounded crazy, I decided to give it a try. Since then, I have been daily praying God’s armor on myself and it has truly been life changing. Each part of the armor reminds us of our purpose and intention here on earth as Christians and it’s a powerful prayer to pray. For instance, let’s think about the belt of Truth. When I pray on the belt of truth I say something like this: “God, I pray for your belt of Truth to be tightened on my waist. I ask that your Truth would be the foundation of all that I do and think today and that, as you promise, it would set me free. I pray that I would believe Truth today, think truth, and speak truth to others. Any lies that come my way, I ask that you would help me to discern them as lies and cut them down in your name.” I have sat with many Christians in the last year and talked through struggles, lies and feelings of defeat that they are being overcome by. Each time, I tell them my battle strategy (or should I say the Apostle Paul’s?) to daily pray on God’s Armor. I share the powerful change I have experienced and I hold out my hand and invite them, through the power of Holy Spirit to join the battle. Most of the time I can tell they think I’m crazy and don’t take it seriously. But friends, I urge you to not lay down your weapons in defeat any longer. Root yourselves in the Truth of God’s Word, meditate on it and take up God’s armor. It is TIME to win the war in your mind.
“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.”
Philippians 4:8
I honestly have only just scratched the surface of some of the ideas posed in the book Winning the War in Your Mind. If you want some practical tips and Truths to, through the power of God’s Spirit, change your thinking so that you can change your life, you can purchase Craig Groeschel’s book on Amazon.
I am praying for Truth, freedom and strength to choose God’s Way over your own way for each person who reads this post and this book. God bless!
Written by: Justine Joy
Refined Joy 