Devotions by Christine Caine

Read Romans 12:2

The apostle Paul urges believers to renew their minds in order to prove the perfect will of God.

The Mind of Christ

We must never underestimate the importance of the mind, as it is vital in making our internal transformation an external reality. Strong heart and soul muscles reveal our potential, but it is the mind muscle that unleashes it.

The Bible teaches us that as we think in our hearts, so we are (see Prov. 23:7). In other words, who we are today is a result of the thoughts that we have been thinking. Similarly, who we will be tomorrow will be the result of the thoughts we think today. And I’m not talking about the thoughts that we think we’re thinking about ourselves; I’m talking about what we truly think about ourselves deep down.

So many of us believe that who we are today is the result of our upbringing, socio-economic background, education, gender, or ethnicity. Of course, all of those factors have played a role in forming who we are, but ultimately our true identities are a result of the patterns of thinking we have developed as a response to our background and circumstances. In short, if we want to change our lives, we must change the way we think.

The strength of our mind muscle is not determined by our IQ level, how well we did on our college entrance exams, or how many academic degrees we have obtained. Nor does it depend on how much biblical or theological knowledge we have. The quality of our mind muscles depends on how much of God’s truth (as found in his Word) we believe and apply to our everyday lives. Our thoughts—which for many of us have been shaped by the forces of culture, tradition, our religious experience, the media, and our family and friends—have to be supplanted by the truth of the Word of God.

There is only one sure-fire way for us to strengthen our mind muscles, and that is by committing ourselves to the process of renewing our minds. It helped me move from the prison of my past into the future God had for me. Even though I was on the road to discovering the importance of strengthening my heart and soul muscles, I knew that embracing my new life in Christ actually hinged on the state of my thought life.

Point to Ponder

Has you weak mind muscle been holding you back from the purposes of God? As you immerse yourself in the Scriptures, you will recognize that nothing in your life will change until you change how you think about everything.