On this side of eternity, there is a battle that goes on every day of our lives, and if we do not discern it, we can quietly live an existence of turmoil and defeat. It begins with our first thought of the day, which sets the tone for everything that follows it. And while the objective of this war is ultimately the fidelity of our hearts, the battle itself is most commonly waged upon the fertile ground of our minds. Even if the enemy never successfully wrestles away our allegiance, succumbing to this daily struggle can drastically impact the fruit produced by our lives. When Jesus spoke of the greatest commandment, He not only told us to love God with all of our heart and soul, He instructed us to love Him with “all” of our mind. But what does that really look like?
First and foremost, our journey with God must begin with a change of mind, which is commonly referred to within the scripture as “repentance”. The book of Proverbs says that as a man thinks, so is he (23:7); therefore, when we surrender our lives to the Lord, our ways of thinking must also be placed on the altar. We can no longer be conformed to the patterns of this world, and we need to allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). It is not simply resisting “evil” thoughts, and having “good” ones. The Apostle Paul warns that those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. He adds that the mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace (Rom 8:5). Similarly, the book of James (1:8) warns us that we cannot have it both ways, as a double-minded man is unstable in everything he does.
While those words are clearly ripe with implication, how to apply them may not always be obvious. Thankfully, the scripture gets very practical on this matter. It tells us that we shouldn’t allow our minds to be consumed with earthly things (Phil 3:19, Col 3:2), or to let our hearts be troubled or afraid (John 14:27), or even to worry about tomorrow (Matt 6:34). It says that because “seen” things (i.e. natural) are perishing, we need to stay focused on “unseen” things (i.e. spiritual), which are eternal (2Cor. 4:18); and that we need to fix our attention on the person of Jesus Christ (Heb. 12:2). In a more general way, it tells us to look for those things which are noble, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable, and praiseworthy; and to set our minds on them (Phil 4:8).
The Bible acknowledges that all of this won’t come easy. While it concedes that we will have to take “every thought captive”, it also assures us that through the power of God’s Spirit, we can demolish every argument and pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of who He is (2 Cor. 10:5), and that by carrying our concerns to Him in prayer, we can experience a peace that will further guard our hearts and minds (Phil 4:6-7).
This picture stands in stark contrast to the paradigm of our culture, which encourages us to open our minds (including our imaginations) to every possibility, and to lend equal weight to every viewpoint. The scripture warns us to “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition, and the elemental spiritual forces of this world, rather than on Christ (Col. 2:8)”. But that guidance is challenging, especially in an age when our senses are relentlessly bombarded with images, ideas, opinions agendas… Readily drinking these things into our soul is akin to swallowing untreated water from the river; it is bound to make our hearts and minds sick.
I would suggest that upon hearing news of break-ins around our neighborhood, most of us would consider taking additional steps toward keeping our home secure. And so it should be with our minds. If we consistently battle anxious thoughts, or find ourselves mired in the hurts of the past, or are consumed with fear about what the future holds, or recognize that our outlook has become overwhelmingly negative, or are filled with animosity toward other people, or catch ourselves wondering whether God & His promises are even real, maybe it’s time to call on the Holy Spirit and to invite Him to become the new filtration system for what flows in and out of our minds.
Bjcorbin's Blog 
A Change of Heart
Posted in Commentaries, tagged chameleon, change, change of heart, change of mind, changed mind, circumstance, defile, destination, external condition, internal condition, lost, repentence on December 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
There was a long season of my life in which I was profoundly lost. That term can mean different things to different people, but for me, it meant that I was lost as to the meaning of life, as to what my purpose was, and as to who I was meant to be. Like most people in that condition, I would not have used the word “lost” to describe myself, but clearly that was the case.
Because of this, I tended to be a chameleon, who completely changed depending on who I was with. Despite a strict religious upbringing, I found myself amazingly open to things that I’d been taught were wrong, with seemingly little impact on my conscience. I attribute this to my unconscious desperation to find a place and/or tribe where I fit in.
The longer I wandered in this state of being, the more confused I became. If you hang around a chameleon long enough, you begin to realize that you have no idea what their natural color is. And even the chameleon himself will eventually lose touch with that reality. In those days, I could look in the mirror and not recognize the face that was staring back at me.
One morning, after a long night of debauchery, I had the sudden and strong urge to change the course of my life, and I went to the local Recruiting Office to join the military. The decision to enlist in the Navy shocked everyone who knew me, and on some level, no one was more surprised than me.
If you had asked me a day earlier, that idea was nowhere on my radar. Yet, within a matter of days, my head was shaved, and I was getting screamed at by some crazed Drill Sergeant in North Chicago. Life, as I had known it, would never be the same.
At the time, I reasoned I just needed a change of scenery, and to get around some different people. And it is tempting to conclude that this was what ultimately changed my course, but with the benefit of hindsight, I realize that it wasn’t the change in circumstances that drove the change in my mindset.
The reality is that the “sudden and strong urge to change” came from a moment of clarity, in which I recognized that the life I was leading was unsustainable. After years of being whatever I needed to be so as to function within the group dynamic, I realized that I needed to pick a specific direction, and then start walking toward something. That revelation spurred a change in my thinking, and that change of mind drove the change in course.
I clearly had no idea of where I was going, or as to how I would handle this new reality, but I was utterly convinced of my need to change. If I hadn’t been, I likely would have quit at the first obstacle on my new path, and returned to the life I abandoned. But it was clear to me that there was no going back.
This is significant because of our very human tendency to focus on external factors (i.e. circumstances), most of which we cannot control, while ignoring the internal conditions of our being (i.e. mind, will, emotions), which are within our reach. Indeed, I have concluded that true, substantive change always begins with an internal shift (i.e. a changed mind, a changed heart).
Beyond the practical implications of this concept are the spiritual principles that lie beneath it. Scripture tells us that God doesn’t see us as we see each other (i.e. externally), He looks at the heart of a man (i.e. internally) – (1 Sam.16:7). It also warns us to guard our hearts above all else, because “everything you do flows from it” (Pro.4:23). Jesus went so far as to say, “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them (Mark 7:15-16).”
Though we are prone to point to external factors (e.g. people, situations…) as a way to justify the poor condition of our hearts, the scripture would suggest that these external factors are to some extent a result of the condition of our hearts. If this is true, the first step in changing our situation, is changing our own mind and/or heart. This is why “self-control” is considered a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:23).
I would submit that one of the reasons we struggle to hear God’s voice in the midst of turmoil is that we are focused on Him making a change to our external condition, and He is focused on making a change to our internal condition.
The scripture clearly points to the need for, and the power of repentance, which is ultimately a change of heart, mind, direction… John the Baptist challenged the authenticity of the Pharisees and Sadducees authority by demanding that they, “produce fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt.3:8).” He understood that without a genuine change of mind/heart, it didn’t matter how they dressed or who they hung out with.
We will know that our repentance is genuine when we arrive at some new destination. I can meet my neighbor half way around the block, and claim that I’m not where I was yesterday, but if I keep returning to the same address, there has been no real change
We live in society that is obsessed with outward appearances, and we often fall into the trap of believing that some type of external change (e.g. if I was rich, if I was famous, if I found the right person, if I lost 100lbs, if my candidate wins the election…) will bring about a change in our hearts, but it never really works like that. The shift must come from within, and the first step belongs to us.
Indeed, God promises that if we’ll take a step towards Him, He will take a step towards us (James 4:8).
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