Spirit-Led Thinking Leads to Life
By Rick Warren
"If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace." Romans 8:6 (ERV)
Making changes in any area of your life requires that you change the way you think. That’s because your brain is where God's Spirit works in you.
God's Spirit doesn’t work in your toes or your lungs or your nose. He works through your mind! We often use the metaphor of our heart being the place where God works. For example, we say, "I invited Jesus into my heart." But your heart is really just a symbol for your brain. Your brain is where you think—so it’s in your mind that God begins the change process. It's where the reset takes place.
The Bible says in Ephesians 4:23-24, "Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person" (CEV).
You were created to be like God. But that doesn’t happen instantly. To grow into someone who’s more like Jesus, you’re going to have to go through a lot of change in your life; you’re going to have a lot of resets. Becoming a new person in Christ starts with changing the way you think.
How does this work? When Satan suggests an idea in your mind, that’s called temptation. When God suggests an idea in your mind, that’s called inspiration.
It's your choice every moment of your life which ideas you're going to hold on to and which ones you're going to reject. Whether you accept or reject a temptation or an inspiration is all up to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit. You get to choose what ideas are going to control your life.
Romans 8:6 says, "If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace" (ERV).
God wants you to live a full, meaningful, purposeful life. He wants you to grow in faith and spiritual maturity.
But it’s your choice each moment of every day. Will you choose the way that leads to life?
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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