Once the way you think about something changes, the way you respond to it also changes. If you still respond to a person or a situation in the same way you have always done, it is because your thoughts about that person or situation have not changed. If I can change how you think about something, I can change how you feel about it and, consequently, how you act towards it. This is why you cannot solve a problem while using or keeping the same kind of thinking that got you into it in the first place. Therefore, in order to transform you into a new person, whose responses to life’s situations are appropriate, God has to change the way you think (Rom 12:2 NLT).
God begins to change how we think by enlightening the eyes of our hearts (Eph 1:18). In other words, He floods our minds with the light of revelation. This light exposes the nature and source of the ideas and thoughts that have conditioned our behaviour. Every revelation we get from God is an invitation as well as an opportunity for us to experience transformation. Therefore, God expects us to embrace and act on the light of revelation He gives us. Our response to the light God gives us demonstrates our faith in Him.
The battle of life is either won or lost in the mind. Once a person capitulates in his or her mind, that person has lost the battle. Thoughts are like seeds which, when planted, germinate, take root, grow and bear fruit after their kind. This is why we need to be careful about the kind of thoughts we entertain. David did not think about Goliath in the same way as the other Israelites did, and that was why his response to him was different. As long as Saul and his soldiers considered Goliath an unbeatable enemy, they responded with fear. However, David’s response to Goliath’s threats against Israel revealed how he thought of him: “… who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”” (1Sam 17:26).
We need to be like David, who was conscious of his identity in God, and would not entertain any thought that contradicted God’s opinion of him. How much of what God says concerning us becomes our experience will depend on how much of it takes root in our hearts, and finds expression in our words and actions. Genuine and lasting transformation comes from inside out. This is why the Bible says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov 4:23 NIV). You can only guard your heart by being selective of the thoughts that you let dwell in your mind.
The word of God has to take root in your heart in order to bear fruit in your life. The only way this can happen is if you occupy your mind with His word. That was exactly what God commanded Joshua to do: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Josh 1:8). Though Joshua had been divinely appointed to succeed Moses, who had just died, his prosperity and success would depend on his attitude towards the word of God. True freedom and prosperity begin inside, not outside. Shalom.
