Guard Your Mind

I recently received a sobering reminder about the importance of guarding my thought life. My mind has a tendency to roam, and it usually doesn’t think with the mind of Christ on its own. Thinking like Jesus comes from being tapped in to His Spirit, not my soul: my mind, emotions, and will.

A few weeks ago my mind was stressed, my emotions were in tatters, and my will had wandered off with my flesh. I had taken off my spiritual armor, and the adversary did not waste the opportunity to launch his offensive. Flu season seemed to have passed several weeks ago, but I suddenly found myself being closely exposed to someone very sick and coughing. Rather than thinking like Christ and meditating on Psalm 91, I started thinking like the world. I said to myself “I’m probably going to catch that sickness” rather than the healing promise that “no plague shall come near my tent”. I realized my mistake later, when the familiar cough-tickle started in my throat.

Mistakes are meant for learning and growth, and I learned a lot from that mistake. It was a good lesson on why God teaches us to “take captive every thought.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) The realization of what had happened while my soul was operating on auto-pilot corrected the course of my mind, made me realize my emotions were out of control, and motivated me to exercise self-control of my will. That’s what you call “changing your mind”!

Although I still coughed for a few days, I felt great. I’m continuing to meditate on Psalm 91 and work on bringing my thoughts captive. The later feels like a full-time job. I’m grateful that God is faithful even when I am not!