Battling Our Mind Part One

Nick Minerva • Jun 28, 2021

How often do you think about your thinking? Do you control your mind or does your mind control you?

How The Mind Works

God has given the human brain the amazing ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections between brain cells or neurons. For adults, this happens whenever something new is learned and memorized. 1 Every time we learn something new our brain forms new connections and neurons and makes existing neural pathways stronger or weaker. 2 Neural pathways are the paths your brain takes to find what it has learned. 

All of us have had that experience when we couldn’t remember something that we were sure we knew, only to remember it hours later. That’s because the neural pathway to that information was weak and it took your brain a while to find it. If we don’t do anything with that information, those neurons eventually fade out of existence. You don’t use it, you lose it. 

When we legitimately forget something, the neuron that stored that information faded out of existence. Conversely, all of us have things about which we know a lot about and we could instantly rattle off facts and information about. That’s because we have a strong neural pathway to that information and our brain knows exactly where to find it. That’s because we either think about it a lot, or we use that information a lot. 

Renewing Our Minds

So when the Bible tells us to renew our minds, it is telling us to re-write our brains with the truths of scripture so that we can live in light of what we see in the Bible. And as we by faith live out the Word of God those neural pathways in our brain become stronger and stronger. Our actions reinforce our thinking. And the neural pathways that lead to worry, or sin, or fear, grow weaker and weaker.

Change in life happens as we by faith control and shape our minds with the grace of God. Look at Romans 12. 

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but  be transformed  by the  renewing of your mind,  so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

We could look at Scripture after Scripture that tells us to be intentional with our thinking. The difficulty is, most of us work with the assumption that our thinking is something that just happens to us. You’re thinking isn’t something that happens to you. It is something that you choose. We see this in Romans 8. 

Romans 8:5-6 For those who live according to the flesh  have their minds set  on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit  have their minds set  on the things of the Spirit. Now the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace.

So what we see in Romans is that we can choose what we set our minds on. We are in control of our thinking and not vice versa. The first step in doing is to….

Identify Faulty Thinking

To identify our faulty thinking let’s reverse engineer our behavior. Think about this question.  Does your life continually reflect the Spirit or does your life continually give in to the flesh?  Maybe not in every area, maybe in one area. 

Let me give you a personal example. In a recent post I talked about my insecurities as a dad. Let’s look at that insecurity a bit more analytically to evaluate the thinking that plays into it. I often feel very unequipped to be a good dad. Because I don’t feel equipped to be a good dad, I sometimes disengage from my children. If I believe I don’t have what it takes to be a good dad my behavior is going to follow that thinking and I wind up not parenting them well. It’s caused me to take my kid’s childish behavior personally and respond in frustration instead of grace. So by analizying my behavior, I can idenitify my faulty thinking. The faulty thinking that I wrestle with is:

“I’m not equipped to be a good dad, because I didn’t have a good dad.”

Destroy The Lies

Lies drive our sinful behavior. If there is an area of your life that needs transforming it’s helpful to identify that faulty thinking in that area. We don’t do this in order to dwell on it, but to demolish it. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We  demolish arguments  and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and  we take every thought captive  to obey Christ.

Faulty thinking is what drive sinful behavior. We need to indentify the bad thinking so we can demolish that argument and take it captive. We need to go full on Chip Gaines on demo day on the lies we believe. Now, the language in these verses indicate that this is hard. It is often hard to identify the lie. 

I would recommend doing this with a trusted friend who knows you deeply. Or doing this with a councelor who will tell you the truth. This is why I am such a proponent of counseling. It gives you the time, space, and help that is needed to identify the lies that often get engrained in us from a young age. 

Once the faulty thinking is identified it’s sometimes even harder to come to grips with the fact that we have been believing it. The faulty thinking get’s so engrained into us that the neural pathway in our mind has become a superhighway of faulty thinking with all these “off ramps” into behaviors that we want to see changed.

Scripture Is The Filter

Another way to identify faulty thinking is by using Philippians 4:8 as the standard for our thinking. 

Philippians 4:8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is  true , whatever is  honorable , whatever is  just , whatever is  pure , whatever is  lovely , whatever is  commendable  — if there is any  moral   excellence  and if there is anything  praiseworthy  —  dwell on these things.

If it’s not true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, or praiseworthy it does not belong in our mind and therefore it’s a thought that needs to be demolished and taken captive. In our next post we will talk about what to do once we have identified our faulty thinking. 

It would be great to connect with you on  Facebook  or  Instagram. I also wrote a  book ! If you  subscribe  to my weekly newsletter, I will send you the digital version for free.

The post Battling Our Mind Part One appeared first on Thriving In Exile.

A Creed To Remind The Gathered Church Of Its New Life In Christ

By Nick Minerva • 14 Jul, 2023
When I was pastoring I wanted to read a blessing over the church that would remind all of us of our new life in Christ. So I wrote this new life creed and every week I would read it and remind us of what Christ had done for us. We gather together as believers professing our great need We acknowledge that we have fallen short We confess that we are rebels who have gone our own way Apart from Christ, we stand condemned, guilty, and unable to save ourselves But what we are incapable of doing, God did In his infinite love, God made a way of salvation for all who would believe Jesus willingly laid down his life and received the just punishment we deserve So that could walk in new life So yes, we confess our great need We humbly recognize that apart from Christ we are incapable of any good thing But we also proclaim that because of the finished work of the cross we will never be apart from Christ We are forever secure in the love of the Father We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit All because of the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus Christ. We are no longer in bondage to sin We are no longer facing righteous wrath We have been declared holy by our King And nothing on heaven or earth will change that reality This gathering is a testimony to our redeemed state We pursue holy living to be an authentic demonstration of the love we have for Christ We believe that we have been empowered by grace to meet our every need And we gladly anticipate the complete fulfillment of our adaption and the remaking of this world at the coming of our Lord To Christ be glory forever and ever Amen

A Praying Church: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 23 May, 2023
Prayer is one of those topics that always seems to convict me. I have never heard a sermon or read a book on prayer and not been challenged. Even as I am writing this review there is a bit of imposter syndrome because I know I should pray more. In A Praying Church , Paul Miller writes about how to become a people of hope in a discouraging world through prayer. And he does so in a way that was very authentic and accessible. While I was consistently challenged, I was also consistently encouraged. Throughout the book, he takes you on his journey of developing a personal prayer life plus countless stories of ministries that developed communal prayer as a vital component of their life together. One thing that struck home with me throughout these stories was the reality that prayer always grows out of desperation for God. There were several things that I found very helpful in this book. One of them was the connection between a life yielded to the Holy Spirit and a vibrant prayer life. The power to do anything of eternal importance comes from the Holy Spirit and the Spirit moves in response to prayer. Paul shows us a biblical pattern we see throughout the New Testament. Prayer-Spirit-Jesus-power. However, this is not a simple formula to get God to do what you want. Another thing I appreciated about this book is Paul tells us time and again that the Spirit often moves in ways we don’t expect and that almost always includes difficulties. The Spirit enables us to look more like Jesus and that means joining him in the fellowship of his suffering. So this is not a “how to turn God into your personal genie” scheme, like many books on prayer. God often answers in ways we don’t expect and in places we don’t anticipate. This book is also full of practical help. I’ve already mentioned the stories he tells, but Paul also offers several helpful charts, strategies, and ideas to help put into place what he writes about (and lives by.) At the end of each chapter, he has a section called “A Word To Pastors” with a few paragraphs of wisdom to help them become a person of prayer and then lead their congregation to become a church of prayer. This book also made me thankful that I am a part of a church that has sought to grow in corporate prayer over the last few years. This would be a great book for any ministry leader who is burdened with the prayer life of his or her church. But it’s also a great read for any believer seeking to develop their own prayer life. Crossway was kind to send me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can get a copy of it at the affiliate link below.

Non-Toxic Masculinity: A Book Review

By Nick Minerva • 28 Apr, 2023
Let me start this review by saying everyone should read this book. If you've grown up in Evangelicalism, you‘ve no doubt heard of purity culture. For the last several years we have seen the harm that has come as a result of this sub-group of Christianity. In Non-Toxic Masculinity, Zachary Wagner does an excellent job unpacking its teaching and the damage that has come as a result. He explains so well the angst I've been feeling with the movement and how often the Church falls short and winds up doing more damage. But unlike many critiques, this one also points a way forward. We know what toxic male sexuality looks like. We see it in the news and unfortunately, in the Church. But what does healthy male sexuality look like? What does it look like for me? What will it look like for my boys? In my heart, I know what I want it to look like, but so often I struggle to find the right words to express it. Non-Toxic Masculinity paints a healthy picture that is (re)humanizing and ultimately looks like Jesus, who, like all of us, had a sexual body. Zach is also very transparent in this book and God used his transparency to encourage, challenge, and convict me. As you read his story you will no doubt find yourself resonating with him on some level. Every man should read this book for themselves first and foremost. But if you have sons, nephews, grandsons, or young boys in your life, reading it is a must. Non-Toxic Masculinity is a breath of fresh air that will prove to be a tremendous resource for generations. Thank you Zach for writing it and sharing your story to serve us.
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