The Most Private Battle Field

 

 An Eskimo fisherman came to town every Saturday afternoon. He always brought his two dogs with him. One was white and the other was black. He had taught them to fight on command. Every Saturday afternoon in the town square the people would gather and these two dogs would fight and the fisherman would take bets. On one Saturday the black dog would win; another Saturday, the white dog would win but the fisherman always won! His friend asked him how he did it. He said, “I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins because he is stronger” (Billy Graham 1988).

In Philippians 4:6 Paul tells the Philippians not to be anxious about anything but to pray about everything. He assures them that if they do this, his peace would guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Paul’s final technique for overcoming worry is to control their thought life. Since worry and anxiety are conditions of the mind, one of the best remedies is to push them aside with healthier thoughts.

As Paul draws to the conclusion of his letter to the Philippians, he deals with the greatest conflict that every believer encounters - the battle for the control mind. A battle is raging all around you, yet you may not even be aware of it. The battle is for your mind. Your enemy is the devil and his target is the arena of your thoughts. He knows if he can control and manipulate the way you think, he’ll be able to control your entire life.

What we think matters and it matters more than we think. Thoughts are real and powerful, even though they cannot be seen. Our thought life composes a major part of who we really are. The Bible leaves no doubt that people's lives are the product of their thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 declares, "for as a man thinks so he is”. A man is not what he says but what he thinks about!

The ideas and images in our minds are the invisible powers that constantly govern us. A person’s real life is led in his mind and it is only known by him. The mind is our only place of total personal privacy. It is the only territory that no other person can invade. As a result, we tend to be very much ourselves in our minds. There we do not have to put up a facade to anyone.

The mind is where immoral fantasies and schemes can play out in intimate details. Thoughts of revenge, jealousy, lingering anger and envy can have unchecked freedom. On the other hand, our mind is the place where we can commune with the Lord on a constant basis. It is where we can store memorized Scripture and meditate on it. Our mind can be a temple where we can worship our Lord at anytime and anyplace.

So much of success or failure in life begins in our minds and is influenced by what we allow ourselves to dwell on. That’s why the Bible warns us to guard our minds. We must be extremely careful not only about what we ingest through our eyes and ears, but what we think about. Almost like a magnet, we draw in what we constantly think about. Your life will always follow your thoughts.

If you continually gravitate towards negative thoughts, you will gravitate towards negative people, activities and lifestyles. Some people say, ‘Well, my circumstances have got me down. Actually, your circumstances have not got you down; your thoughts about your circumstances have got you down. You can be in one of the biggest battles of your life and still be filled with joy and peace and victory, if you simply learn how to choose the right thoughts.

The mind cannot be entirely at rest; the human mind will always set itself on something. If you're not thinking something right, you are going to think something wrong. Two thoughts cannot occupy the mind at the same time, so we have to choose one. Good thoughts contribute to building character; bad thoughts are the quickest way to degenerate.

Believers are in a war for their minds, the world system is continually bombarding them using every "weapon" at its disposal - books, television, social media etc. The goal of the world system is to control the actions by first controlling the minds. The medium seeks to seduce our minds into its worldly way of thinking and distorted our values systems.

The aim is to get believers to neglect the truth and the eternal values that God absolutely sets. In Philippians 4:8, Paul presents the antidote to counter the fiery missiles constantly coming to the believer's mind. He gives a check-list of what the believers mind should dwell on.

He says “whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise. In Colossians 3:1-2 he gives two commands: “seek those things which are above, where Christ is. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth”; for your citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).

The ancient world was not any different from world system of today. And so Paul’s words are as relevant today as they were then. The battle is going on, Satan is attacking the mind. The Christian mind has succumbed to the secular drift with a great degree of weakness. Therefore these words of the Apostle Paul concerning the use we make of our minds are so relevant to us today.

Followers of Christ have been given the precious gift of "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16). But we can misuse it by entertaining unworthy thoughts.God has provided his church with his Word as a primary means of purifying our minds. The living and active Word of God can effectively and powerful counters the words of the world (Heb 4:12).

All sin begins in our thoughts. Jesus said “ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders...all these evil things come from within and defile a man” (mark 7:20-23). No one commits these outward sins without first having committed them in his mind. If we want to grow in godliness, we must win the battle over sin on the thought level.

Thus it is crucial for each of us to bring our thought life into submission to Jesus Christ by learning to think biblically about every aspect of life. Proper thinking is not optional in the Christian life. You must bring “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor.10:5). You must guard your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23).

A godly thought life (Phil 4:8) is essential if we want to develop and maintain healthy relationships (Phil 4:2-5). A godly thought life is also integral to a life of joy (Phil 4:4) and peace (Phil 4:6-7) in every situation. Clearly, Paul’s thought life was at the heart of the contentment he had learned in every situation (4:10-12). So Paul is telling us the way to have wholesome relationships with God, with one another, and within ourselves.

The Christian’s thought life should be focused on Biblical truth. God’s Word teaches us that a changed life begins with a changed mind. Paul wrote in Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” All of life begins and is defined by how we think, what we think about and what we decide in the confines of our thoughts. God wants us to conform our thoughts to His will and His ways.

Paul instructs us to destroy every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ ( 2 Cor. 10:5). We need God’s Word to saturate our minds that we may be kept from offensive ways. The principle behind Paul’s words is simple: sin always begins in the mind and so does holiness.

A godly mindset hinges on a biblical meditation. You cannot be profoundly influenced by that which you do not know. Fill your mind with Scripture. Take in God’s Word from every source. Read it daily or listen to it on tape. Saturate your mind with Scripture.  Listen or read sermons from godly men. Read biographies of men who walked with God. Listen to wholesome music, especially the great hymns. They will fill your mind with wholesome truth.

The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so (Rom. 8:9). We must clean out and block out sources for sinful thoughts. If something is polluting you get rid of it and make plans to avoid it! God’s standard for His children is that we should sit in judgment upon every thought that flickers through our minds.

If it cannot pass the test given by Paul (Phil 4:8), it is to be rejected and repudiated. The battle is not first in the field of action; it is in the field of thought. Satan wants your mind occupied with that which ultimately must defile and distort the life. Don't let him have your mind. He will use the wrong thinking to paralyzes your thought life and eventually destroy you.

Do not  be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" ( Rom 12:2). Holy thinking produces holy living. Watch your thoughts, they become words; words become actions; actions become habits;  habits become character and character becomes your destiny."