We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. —2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

I woke up this morning with the words, “Train your mind.”

Our mind is the driving force behind every belief, action, and even our perception of life. If we are not intentional with what we allow our minds to fixate on, we will drive ourselves to places God never intended us to live.

When I was a single mom of four under 10, life was hard. I was coming out of an abusive marriage. I had very little income and was not receiving child support from my children’s absent father. I was all in with Jesus, but in this season, my mind was being shaped by my circumstances, fears, emotions, and the endless list of what ifs, and it was taking me on a spiral of hopelessness — daily.

I had to learn to train my mind.

I had to choose what I was going to allow my thoughts to say to me, and get my thinking lined up with what God says over what my emotions and situation were throwing at me. This season taught me the power of renewing my mind and has set me up to see life from a greater perspective, His perspective, regardless of what I’m facing.

If you have a habit of seeing life through a negative lens, you will only see all the wrong and miss the right. The beautiful. The positive. The blessings — and even God.

This is why we must learn to pause, connect with our thought life, and “teach it” to obey Christ, the Living Word. As we learn to take our thoughts captive and put a positive spin, a scripture, or make a faith declaration over what we are seeing, we lead ourselves to a well of peace and joy that cannot be explained.

And we live as conquerors through Christ every day of our lives!

Here’s the Truth, if we call ourselves believers in Jesus, then we better make sure our believers (our minds) are lined up with Him. As followers of Christ, we are supposed to have a mind like His. This means — if we can’t imagine Jesus thinking it, we shouldn’t be either.

Amen?

Here’s my challenge for you this week. Don’t just read this brief devotional and forget what God whispered to your heart today. It’s like the man who looks at himself in the mirror and forgets what he looks like as soon as he walks away (James 1:23-24).

Instead, find what works for you and check in with your thoughts throughout the day. It may be so abnormal to think about what you’re thinking about you may not even realize your thought life is what’s holding you back from living as a believer, but today is your starting point. If you have to set a timer on your phone throughout the day to remind yourself, do it. Find someone who loves you enough to tell you the truth. Oftentimes what leaks out of our mouths during casual conversations will reveal thoughts that oppose the Truth. Statements like, “Yeah but, I’m afraid, I’m worried about …” or even just a habit of criticizing and putting a constant negative spin on situations are determining factors that you have got to retrain your mind to find what’s pure, lovely, and worthy of praise.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. —Philippians 4:8 (NLT)

Pray with me: Father, I want you to rule and reign in every area of my life, including my thought life. I’m realizing I’ve made you Lord of my life, but I’m still lord of my mind. Holy Spirit, reveal to me the thoughts that are driving me away from your heart and where I’m looking, acting, sounding, and even thinking like an unbeliever. Help me train my mind to be a reflection of you so I can see, think, and act like you. In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.