Extreme Mind Makeover

I have been going through a Bible Study with a friend called Breaking Free by Beth Moore. It is my second time through the study and it has been life changing both times.

Last week, we talked about The Steadfast Mind and about learning to think rightly. Thinking rightly does not come naturally to those born in sin. We must practice this art of deprogramming wrong thinking and reprogramming with God’s Truth.

Satan, our archenemy, does not play fair when it comes to our thinking; he loves to distract and dazzle us with anything that will keep our thoughts from centering on the Truth. He will twist and turn the lies until they sound almost true, and then convince us to believe these fallacies. Our minds become so used to this distraction, to the messages of the world, to our own unbalanced judgments that we don’t even realize we are not “capturing” our thoughts. We think lazily because we are lazy. We don’t hunt down the lies because it’s work. We choose to think and do as world thinks and does because we have become accustomed to taking the low road--not the high one. We actually “like” the wallpaper of lies and potential strongholds in our minds. They feel familiar to us…homey.

Homey is the last thing these lies are if our real home is Heaven. Undisciplined thinking leads us into pits of depression, apathy and pride; what we don’t tame and temper will take control of us. Our unbridled thoughts, because they have power over us, actually become an idol in our lives--an idol we bow to every time we let an unwholesome image, picture, complaint, enter our brains.
These thoughts then, separate us from God and His Truth and keep us imprisoned in the confines of our own sinful selves. God’s power is then diminished in our lives because we keep ignoring Him by our disobedience. If we continue to harden our hearts in these early stages of listening, and we keep putting off what God has told us to do, the less discernment and strength we will have in the next battle of the mind.

So, what can we do about this outlandish, outdated wallpaper that covers the seams in our brain? We can rip it down and put up new stuff—beautiful, wholesome, Godly and gorgeous wallpaper!

Here’s how: First, we need to be aware of what thoughts are running through our heads and hold them up to the Truth of God. Do they measure up? Are they making us more like God or more like the world around us? Are they wholesome? Are they helpful? Do they accurately represent Jesus? If not, we must scour God’s word for direction on our strongholds. Personally, I struggle with a critical spirit and critical thoughts, so as I have started the re-wallpapering process, I have ripped down the old, judgmental thoughts and opinions (and let me tell you, removing old wallpaper is MESSY and SLOW), and replaced it with Truth like Ephesians 4:29 which says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” This is the wallpaper I must look at now, not the old false stuff that comes naturally.

I have copied these “reprogramming” words on note cards that I am trying to carry with me and review—when I am waiting at a stoplight, waiting at the orthodontist, waiting for my kids to come out of youth group—you get the idea. Then, I review, review, review and avoid, avoid, avoid; review my new “wallpaper” and avoid old habits, songs, magazines, friends, that make me yearn for my old ways.

I would compare the process of re-wallpapering to learning a new language—first it is hard and confusing and tedious, but eventually things start to fall into place and you start understanding how to properly communicate. This new language becomes easier, but it is still never as natural as your native tongue.

We must make the deliberate choice to think like God. We must set our minds on things above. We must take captive every thought with the Divine Power God has placed within us.

Are you ready to start re-wallpapering?

Let’s remodel together, shall we?

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5