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A renewed mind restructures the way we think, which in turn completely changes how we behave. But in order to begin this journey, we must change the way we think.

“What was I thinking?”

Have you been there? No doubt, more times than you like to think!

You are on the flip side, looking back at your behavior. You have just given someone a piece of your mind that you can ill afford to give away or maybe you have endured a movie you shouldn’t have watched. Leaving with embarrassment, you ask, “What was I thinking?”

Exactly!! What were you thinking?

Do you remember the warning of Solomon?

Be careful when you are visiting with a cunning and angry person. He will encourage you to eat your fill and enjoy his tasty meal, but in his heart he is hoping you will only take a small bite. “As he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:6-7).

Our mind has great power over our actions.

4 Powerful Ways a Renewed Mind Can Change Your Life

1. Our thinking determines our focus.

2. Our focus shapes our attitude.

3. Our attitude forms our words.

4. Our words motivate our behavior.

The Apostle James said, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15 NKJV).

The enemy sends one of his flaming arrows into your mind (a thought).

• “They have no right to speak to me like that.”
• “This is a great movie, good story line… with only a few bad scenes.”

Those thoughts are not the sin, but the cunning work of the enemy to move you to sin.

What is already present in your mind? The philosophy, ideology, thought patterns, reasoning, or world view that has been shaped inside you from childhood are the targets of the “flaming arrow” of the enemy.

He is looking to lodge into one of those areas to stir up passion and arouse temptation. “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away of his own desires and enticed.”

That is why the Apostle Paul instructed the believers in Rome and the believers in Ephesus to renew their mind.

Literally in the Greek it means to renovate their mind. Every person comes to salvation with a mind that has been built with inferior materials.

The thought patterns and core values of our home life; the classrooms of school; the survival techniques we developed on the playground; during high school dating experiences; and in the adversity and tragedies of life.

The philosophy, reasoning and ideology shaped in us through the education systems and the world view of our family and peers are the stuff from which we develop behavior patterns, attitudes and the systems by which we deal with life.

These are the “old man.”

We must do a remodeling project on our mind, so the house in which we live is the new creation Jesus Christ made.

“That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV).

That is the stuff from which our life is lived

Indeed, what were you thinking?

Read more of my articles on renewing the mind:

The Power of a Renewed Mind

4 Powerful Ways a Renewed Mind Can Change Your Life

Pastor Dean Sermon Archives Episode 27 – How to Live in the Victory of a Renewed Mind

Pastor Dean Sermon Archives Episode 28 – The Key to Living the Blessed Life

What Does the Bible Say About Renewing the Mind?

Two Ways Jesus’ Sacrifice Brought Emotional Healing

Why Christians Today Look So Much Like the World

4 Ways We Live Life as a New Creation

2 Ways Strongholds Prevent Renewing the Mind

2 Steps to Renewing Your Mind

Pastor Dean Sermon Archives Episode 38 – This is How God Makes All Things New In You