Have you ever wondered if you’re born again?
That kind of questioning is a direct result of not renewing your mind!
Not renewing our mind comes down to simply not doing what we know the Word of God tells us to do. From this place of not doing what we know to do, we end up allowing the devil to plant seeds of doubt in our minds.
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
1 Peter 2:11 NKJV
There is a war that happens in our mind (soul) when we behave contrary to what God tells us to do.
3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
1 Peter 4:3-4 KJV
You used to behave that way before you became a Christian, but if you continue to behave that way after you’re born again there is going to be a problem! Because your heart no longer wants to think that way and behave that way.
Our enemy the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
The word “may” here exists because you don’t have to accept these lies and behave the way we used to!
The truth is that many Christians are stuck in a habit loop detrimental to their spiritual growth, and because of this, there is a war going on in their soul that eventually ends up with them saying, “I wonder if I’m even born again…”
The devil (or our own self) will tell us, “You did it again – you messed up. You must not be saved otherwise you wouldn’t be acting like this.”
This mistrust of God must stop. It’s the enemy to a life lived in victory. The devil will use this tool of deception to keep us stuck in our past mistakes, questioning religious theology and operating in a state of lethargy spiritually.
Is it any wonder that so many people are depressed and anxious and cannot seem to find the energy to live?
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Colossians 2:8 KJV
Men will try to get you to focus on the religious aspects of God and remove the relationship right out of the equation! Pretty soon it’s all about what YOU did instead of what Jesus Christ did for you.
Pretty soon it’s all about what YOU did instead of what Jesus Christ did for you.
This is why we are discussing the attack on our souls today. I want to point out something I never knew and would have saved my life many years of mental anguish.
Your sin isn’t your problem Jesus made it His problem when He nailed it to the cross.
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Colossians 2:14 KJV
The following guide is the list of all the things that you need to do according to 1 Peter in order to renew your mind.
#1 Renew your mind by removing yourself from filthy communication
I grew up in a Christian home, but truly I never adhered to this command. I did what Paul talks about that you SHOULDN’T do and I used my liberty as an excuse to sin.
Cussing or talking about bad things was just a normal in my teenage life. I allowed myself to communicate filthily. The problem with this is that filthy communication leads to filthy living – period.
Our words paint the future destinations we are going to walk in.
This is simply the truth. What we confess we will eventually possess – good, bad or ugly.
“Choose your words, make them sweet. You’ll never know which ones you’ll have to eat.”
This is the truth.
Filthy communication doesn’t have to be cussing
The thing about filthy communication is that it’s anything that contradicts what the Word of God says about us. So calling yourself dumb, fat or stupid is just as bad as saying a cuss word.
#2 Remove actions that contradict God’s Word
11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
1 Peter 2:11 KJV
The lust of the flesh wars against our minds. This is often where we get this thought, “Am I even born again anymore?”
I’ve never seen a single person think this way when they are following all God tells them to do. Why? Because Peter tells us our flesh and its lusts war against our soul (our mind).
This is the true fight of faith.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12 KJV
Surround your mind with TRUTH (God’s Word)
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 1:13 KJV
This is probably a little bit lost on us. I had to study to understand what the “loins of your mind” actually was. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but here’s another verse that will help.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Ephesians 6:14 KJV
We are supposed to surround our mind with verses that apply to our situation where we are being attacked.
Paul tells us that with the mind he serves the law, with the heart he serves the spirit of God, but with the flesh he still serves sin (Romans 7:25).
Doing this will keep you from sinning.
20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
James 5:20 KJV
To surround our mind with the truth of the Word is to hide a multitude of sins because all sin will start in the mind with a thought before it becomes an action.
Psychology has picked up on this fact and scientists have started to understand the habit loop. People with addictive personalities need to listen up because this is what happens when we don’t train our minds.
The Habit Loop feeds addiction and negative behaviors
“The Habit Loop is a neurological loop that governs any habit. The habit loop consists of three elements: a cue, a routine, and a reward. Understanding these elements can help in understanding how to change bad habits or form better ones.”
Duhigg, C.
There are three steps to any habit that you regularly participate in.
- Cue – thought
- Routine – what you do because of the thought
- Reward – the result of your actions
The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death” and “to sow to the flesh is to reap corruption”. When we allow our habits and thoughts to remain as they were before we got saved, we continue to sow to the flesh and will reap corruption.
This is a habit loop that can be broken by short circuiting the loop (aka Renewing your mind).
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV
The Bible tells us to cast down vain imaginations and every high thing. This is exactly the same conclusion psychologists came up with.
When we get the cue (thought) we have to disrupt it before our routine kicks in. This often times plays out as drastically changing the way we do things.
We should disrupt our habits from before we got born again and surplant new and better things in their place.
We aren’t talking about traditions of men, but the habits that the Word of God outlines. (See The Habits of Jesus)
Peter addresses this when he says, “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:” (1 Peter 4:4 KJV)
In other words, our “want to” has changed and with it our entire life changes.
This is how you ”put on” the new man.
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4:23-25 KJV
Notice you can only put on the new man after you have put away those things of the old and started obeying the Word of God.
The solution isn’t just trying to stop what you are doing wrong – it’s replacing the habits with a different, healthy habit and disrupting the loop.
Guard your Renewed Mind & Keep it Pure
It’s very important to stay committed to keeping our minds pure.
We can very easily fall into the trap of watching a Netflix show here and listen to a song there and pretty soon we have allowed ourselves to fall back into the same type of thoughts we had before salvation.
The Human Spirit must be Protected
Netflix isn’t wrong and neither is all secular music, but be discerning about the things you allow to enter into your mind.
Remember the first step to the armor of God is having your mind renewed and surrounded by the knowledge of the truth of God’s Word.
Also remember the first step to any sin is a thought.
Summary: Obey the Bible and Walk in Love
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1 Peter 1:22 KJV
Well you really can’t get any clearer instructions than that verse.
The way you keep your mind renewed is to obey what the Spirit of God on the inside of you is telling you to do and walk in love.
Look for ways to obey the truth of God’s Word and show God’s love to others and your mind will change in the process.
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