Things You Must Change Your Mind About

It’s so amazing to realize we can live with the mind of the Spirit! And when we do, we have life, peace, and spiritual well-being.

Joyce shares this about the importance of having the mind of the Spirit:

“It’s impossible to have a positive, peaceful life and at the same time have a negative mind. But when we take time to renew our minds with God’s Word, we learn how to think like God thinks, say what God says, and act like He wants us to act. Then we can have what He wants us to have—abundant life in Christ, filled with His righteousness, peace and joy!”

You recently learned about three specific mindsets to pursue: The Made-up Mind, The Humble Mind, and The Focused Mind. Today, Joyce brings to light specific areas of our thought life that are vitally important to line up with God’s Word.

She says, “We need to change our thinking about…

• God. It’s so important for us to know who God really is. He’s not an angry God, and He’s not ...harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant...(Matthew 11:30 AMPC). God loves you! And if you know how much He loves you right now, then you’ll have hope that the things in your life that need to change can be changed.
• Ourselves. If you don’t like yourself, you’re going to have difficulty in every area of your life. Don’t demand perfection from yourself. No one is perfect, and no matter what we do, we usually don’t think it’s enough: we don’t pray enough, work hard enough, study the Bible enough, etc. God spoke to my heart one day and told me, “Joyce, you’re never enough, but I’m always more than enough.” That’s why Jesus came! Believe that, in Christ, there’s more right than wrong with you, and you can do whatever you need to do in life through Him (2 Corinthians 5:21; John 15:5; Philippians 4:13).
• Trials, or the hard, painful things we go through in life. Habakkuk 3:19 (AMPC) says:
  
  

  The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]! — Habakkuk 3:19 (AMPC)

  
  James 1:2-4 (ESV) encourages us, saying:
  
  

  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. — James 1:2-4 (ESV)

• The level of importance we put on what others think about us. It’s easy to let what others do and say affect us, and to feel like “If you don’t like me, my day is ruined.” But the truth is, if we’re more concerned with being a people-pleaser than a God-pleaser, we won’t become what God created us to be and do what He’s calling us to do (Galatians 1:10).”

Take time to study the scriptures listed in these four areas and look up others that take you deeper into the truth they reveal. Remember that as you do, you’re actively taking steps toward a more peaceful life in Christ…and there’s nothing better than that!