God is interested in all aspects of our life: body, mind and spirit. Learning about our reactions and our past is part of psychology. Most of us try to become knowledgeable about how to take care of our physical bodies in the same way we should learn to take care of our minds.
At the root of both our physical decay and our mental decay is the first sin of Adam and Eve. Before this the world was perfect. In my book Beyond Head Knowledge I explore the results of sin saying, “The relationship (with God) was broken— never to be the same. With the entrance of sin, a barrier was erected that brought darkness, distrust, and insecurity into the sweet fellowship they once knew.” The relationship with God who is true, holy and good could not be the same because Adam and Eve were no longer perfect.
With the entrance of sin one of the immediate results was break down in family relationships. In Adam and Eve’s family this came as one son killing another son. Later there is the account of Lot, how his daughters lay with him to become pregnant. On and on the Old Testament goes with the sin that fills families. Over the past few weeks we have been talking about how to know your story. We need to understand our past but we don’t want to live in it. The end of our story doesn’t have to be the same as the beginning. There is redemption and victory. Remember that this can be your story.
Sometimes in psychology we can dig so much into the past and the roots of our pain that we overlook the fact that we will be impacted by sin in this world. We will have hurts. When dealing with past hurt and present or future pain we should remember that we still live in a fallen world. Knowing this should keep us from blaming our parents, circumstances or those who hurt us. They were impacted by sin and so are we. Think about the words of Jesus “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Trouble will come, the natural result of the fall of man.
What is sin? We think of breaking the ten commandments as sin. In its most basic form sin is anything that separates us from God and His power (which is Satan’s plan). We might think of sin as the actions of murder, stealing etc, but sin is also in the thoughts that separate us from God.
Salvation brings us the security in knowing that we will not be separated from God in eternity but on earth we still must work through the effects of the separation. Through Jesus we have access to God but we should learn to depend on Him and let Him control our thoughts. Once we are saved we have victory over sin but we are not yet perfect.
The growth process still needs to take place. We receive the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) and have all of God’s promises available to us. A baby is born with untapped potential and talents. These must be developed and learned. In the same way when we are born again we receive the potential to have our minds transformed and renewed to be able to know His will. (Romans 12:2)
As we grow in Christ we can become aware of how our thinking is influenced by the world we grew up in, our parents, teachers, books, media and experiences. One example I can think of is that growing up my family had little money and my mother’s family as well in her generation. This led me to have more of a poverty mentality. Every time a bill came in I would struggle with the feeling of lack. This was a built in part of my thought process. This negative thinking separated me from God because I was not able to draw close to Him to rely on His supply. I gradually learned to claim the promises of Scripture from Philippians 4:19 that God would supply all my needs. It is an area where I have the opportunity to learn dependence on God and trust that He will fulfill His promises in my life.
Life Coach Moment:
What is your concept of sin?
What are some ways your thinking was influenced by the world around you as you grew up?
Is this thinking in line with God’s Word, why or why not? For instance, do they point you towards embracing who you are in Christ or not? Do they line up with the promises of Scripture? (Think about my example of the poverty mentality)
Renew Your Mind in Truth
Reflect on these verses
Galatians 3:22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Father thank You that I am no longer under the control of sin, but have freedom in Christ. Thank You that through Your Holy Spirit I can have victory over my past. In Jesus Name Amen
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