Battling Our Mind Part Two

Nick Minerva • Jun 28, 2021

In the last post we saw how our mind works and the importance of identifying the faulty thinking that keeps us from being changed to look like Jesus. Now let’s look at what we do once we identify our faulty thinking. 

Replace Faulty Thinking with Biblically Healthy Thinking

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

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.

One of the reasons identifying faulty thinking is important is because it helps you know what truth you need to begin speaking to yourself. Once you have identified your faulty thinking you can flip the script. Again a personal example might be helpful. I said my faulty thinking was:

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

God’s Word Flips The Script

That is the wrong thinking that needs to be replaced with Biblically Healthy thinking. But I need to replace it with specific Biblical truth. What’s the flip side of that faulty thinking? What is the truth of God’s Word? What Biblically healthy thinking do I need to replace my faulty thinking with?

God is my Father – Romans 8:15.

I have been given everything I need for life and godliness – 2 Peter 1:3.

So for me the Biblically healthy thinking is…

“I have a perfect heavenly Father who has given me everything I need to raise my kids.”

That is the truth I need to actively renew my mind with. So instead of letting faulty thinking shape our minds, we reshape or renew our minds with the truth of God’s Word. 

And as we do this our hearts begin to change because it isn’t simply positive thinking, it’s God’s Word.  The Bible is the sword of the Spirit that grows us in spiritual maturity. Change in life happens as we by faith control and shape our minds with the grace of God. This is why I regularly talk about managing what we consume. What we consume shapes us and changes and ultimately determines how we live. 

This is especially first thing in the morning. In the introduction we talked about the neurons in your brain that store information. “Every morning when you wake up, new neurons have been formed while you were sleeping that are there at your disposal 1 to be used in replacing your faulty thinking with Biblically healthy thinking.” Next we…

Daily Renew Your Mind In Biblical Truth

Ephesians 4:23-24 to be  renewed in the spirit of your minds,  and to  put on the new self,  the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

There are two actions in this verse that we are to take. First of all we are to…

Regularly Rehearse The Truth

Once we know the truth that we need to believe that speaks to a specific area of our growth, we need to have that truth on repeat so it becomes engrained in our minds. In a physical sense, we want the neural pathways in our mind to that truth to be strong. And in a spiritual sense, the more we meditate on that truth the more our hearts are changed. 

There are lots of ways we can do this. I would encourage you to write out the truth you need to believe in the area of your life you want to grow. Once we have that written down the truth that is from the Bible repeat it to yourself over and over and over. 

  • Tell it to yourself in the morning. 
  • Say it to yourself at night. 
  • Put it on your phone. 
  • Print it out and tape it to your mirror. 
  • Write it out multiple times each day. 
  • Tattoo it to your forehead. 

Okay, maybe not your forehard. But do whatever it takes. The key is to consistently repeat it to yourself so it get’s engrained into your mind. The first way we renew our minds is by regularly rehearsing the truth. Second we…

By Faith Act On The Truth

Ephesians 4:23-24 to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to  put on the new self,  the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Repeating a truth to yourself over and over will begin to create a strong neural pathway in your mind. But it’s equally important to act on that truth. That is why Paul says, “ PUT ON THE NEW SELF. ” Acting on what you believe is how you gather evidence for yourself so that you can better combat the faulty thinking. 

I’m not equipped to be a good dad because I didn’t have a good dad,-   is a lie. And as I, by faith, act on the truth that  I have a perfect heavenly Father who has given me everything I need to raise my kids –  I have evidence to tell that lie, nope. You are false. 

I can tell that like “ Look at how I am engaging my kids. S ee that time I was gracious, instead of angry? Yesterday I was patient, instead of snapping. Look at the time I put down my phone and listened instead of checking-out.” 

This isn’t about creating a list of things to be proud about. It’s about creating a list trophies of God’s grace that reinforce what God says is true. If we are actually going to change we have to “put on the new self.” We have to live like the person God has saved us to be. Christ made us new when we got saved. But so often we believe lies and we don’t live like it. 

You can write a really well-thought out truth, that rolls off the tongue, and the words play nicely with each other, and even have it memorized; but if there is not faith-filled action all you have is a fortune cookie. But you as you day in and day out renew your mind in the truth of God’s Word and put on the new man you will slowly begin to see change happen. 

God’s Word Will Change You

I read a study 2 this past week that reinforced the importance of renewing your mind in the truth of God’s Word. In the study, they polled 40,000 people ages 8 to 80. They wanted to see how people were engaging in Scripture.  As they compiled the results, they made a profound discovery they were not even looking for when they originally planned the survey.

The study indicated that when people engaged in the Scripture one time a week, there was negligible effect on some key areas of their life. The same result was true if people engaged in the Scriptures two times a week. The result equaled little to no effect. Three times a week saw a small indication of life. There was a slight pulse, a faint heartbeat. Something moved in the behavior of the person engaging in Scripture. The eye opener happened when Bible engagement reached at least four times a week. 

Now, there is nothing magical about the number 4. But if we are going to actually renew our mind’s in God’s Word there has to be consistent time in God’s Word. 

When day four was reached, the effects spiked in an astounding way.

  • Feeling lonely drops 30%
  • Anger issues drop 32%
  • Bitterness in relationships drops 40%
  • Alcoholism drops 57%
  • Sex outside of marriage drops 68%
  • Feeling spiritually stagnant drops 60%
  • Viewing pornography drops 61%
  • Sharing your faith jumps 200%
  • Discipling others jumps 230%

So what in your life do you want to see changed? What’s the faulty thinking that is hindering that change? What’s the truth that you need to believe to drive that change? What is your plan to actively renew your mind so you can experience that change?

Change your thinking. Change your life.

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.

  1. Caroline Leaf, Switch On Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2018), 24.
  2. https://lifewayresearch.com/2021/01/20/9-tangible-benefits-of-bible-reading-for-your-church/

The post Battling Our Mind Part Two 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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