Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:09] Welcome back to another edition of the weekday podcast. For the next several episodes, we're going to talk about one of the hidden battles that every single one of us fights. What if I told you the most dangerous battle you've ever fight isn't one that you can see with your physical eyes. It's not in your workplace and it's not in your relationships. It's not with another person.
[00:00:26] It's actually the fight that is in your head right now. Even as you listen to this podcast, there's a war happening in your thoughts every single day. Your mind is being shaped either by God's truth or by the world's noise. And the direction that your thoughts go will determine the direction of your life. I think this is one of the reasons why Paul writes in Romans 12, verse 2, do not be conformed to this world. And that word that he uses for not being conformed is a word that means to be pressed into a pattern, like soft clay that's being shaped by the pressure around it. And these early believers in Rome, they lived in a culture that demanded their loyalty to its idols, to its entertainment, to its values. And Paul is saying to them, do not let this empire shape your soul. Now, if you fast forward 2000 years to our day and age, that same pressure exists. We're being shaped every time we scroll, every time we compare, every time we chase after approval. And if we're not careful, we start to live life on autopilot where we're reacting instead of reflecting, copying instead of creating and conforming instead of being transformed. The battle for your mind is constant. And this is the reason it matters. Your thoughts create beliefs. Your beliefs drive your behavior. So if you constantly think anxious thoughts, you'll end up living an anxious life. If your mental soundtrack is filled with fear or self doubt, you'll act out of that fear and self doubt. But if your thoughts are filled with God's word and his peace, his power, they start shaping your emotions and your choices and even your relationships. Now it's sort of like putting the wrong address in your gps. You can have a full tank of gas and you have great music playing, but if the destination is wrong, you're going to end up somewhere you never wanted to be. And look, there's nothing wrong with Waffle House at 2am, but that's not the beach vacation you are planning. Our thought life works the same way. Wrong input, wrong destination.
[00:02:21] So that's why Paul starts with the mind, because every outward action begins with an inward direction. So as you think about this, you ask the question, well, how do I begin to think about my thinking? One is to pause before reacting. When emotion spikes, ask, where did this thought come from? Is it truth or fear? Number two, name the pattern. Is this comparison that's driving me? Am I assuming the worst?
[00:02:45] Number three, invite God into it. Say, lord, show me if this thought agrees with your word. And then finally, number four, redirect it with scripture. Replace the lie with a verse that you can stand on. Now, it's simple, but it's powerful. Because when you pause, name, invite and redirect, you take control back from the noise. Now, you don't have to be perfect at this. Renewing your mind is actually a process. It's not a one time event. And each time you choose to pause instead of panic, truth gets a little bit louder. Each time you catch a negative thought and you turn it over to God, faith grows stronger. So here's today's takeaway. Your thoughts are the tracks your life will run on. So if you want to change your life, start by renewing your mind. Have a great day. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
