THINKING DIFFERENTLY
Romans
8:5-10, 7/16/2017
Introduction: We talk all the time! Some time to others but
most of the time to ourselves. How many of us woke up this morning, looked in
the mirror and said to ourselves, great, I look fabulous and beautiful, not
many right? Instead we have lot to complain and grouch about the way we looked,
the way our hair is rapidly receding, the unwanted accumulation of pounds in
our bodies, and our constant struggle against gravity and so on. Positive
self-talk comes naturally only to some but most of us need to learn how to
cultivate positive thoughts and recognize and replace the negative ones. Let me
give you an example of positive-self talk. Positive self-talk is encouraging
and affirming: consider the following statement: “I am going to work today,
because I have something important to contribute at my work.” That kind of talk
gives you energy and motivation to go to work. It’s time to think positively.
How
about the negative-self talk? Negative-self talk is destructive and
demoralizing. It is when you entertain unworthy and defeating thoughts of
yourself and the work you are going to do. For example; I don’t want to go to
work, today because I don’t have anything worthy to contribute at my work. I am
failure and I will mess it up anyway! If that is the kind of thoughts you
entertain; you have already lost the battle before you even began.
Let’s pay attention to the negative statements
we speak to ourselves they can be very as destructive, especially when they are
directed towards our appearance. No matter where you are from, most people in the world struggle with negative
self-image, including born again Christians. Does self-talk matter? Where does negative
self-talk come from? How can we learn to cultivate positive thoughts? I title this
message: Thinking Differently. Romans
8:5-10. We will address these questions,
not so much from a self-improvement point of view, as many such resources are
out there as this one, but from a biblical point of view.
Last
week while looking at how to know God’s will we embarked on a threefold path
suggested by the Apostle Paul, which is, “Non-conformity to the world, being
transformed and renewing of the Mind.” Today we look at, how the renewing of
our mind helps us to think positively and differently so that we can live
healthier, more fulfilled and purposeful lives.
Romans
12:3, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve
what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.” In Contemporary English Version it reads, “Don’t
be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think.
Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.” The
context for this verse is that, the Apostle was urging the Roman believers to
offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Their
bodies also included their minds. The needed to change their sinful way of
thinking to a spirit renewed way of thinking. But how did the human mind become
corrupt in the first place?
In
the Garden of Eden before the fall Adam and Eve enjoyed a unique gift of
thinking and imagination. They had a positive view of God and a healthy
self-esteem. But after the fall, their minds have become corrupted. This was
God’s assessment of their fallen minds. “The Lord saw how great the wickedness
of the human race had become on the earth, and the very inclination of the
thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” Genesis 6:5.
The
Apostle Paul calls that, living according to the flesh or sinful nature. Romans,
8:5-8 “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. The mind
governed by the flesh is death, but the
mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not
submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh
cannot please God.”
We
see the word mind mentioned five times here, that explains the importance. How
can we define the mind? It is the element
of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences,
to think, and to feel; the faculty of consciousness and thought. Synonyms of the
mind are: brain, intelligence, intellect, understanding, reasoning, judgment,
sense etc. The mind
is the organ of mental perception and, the organ of the consciousness preceding
actions.
The author of, “The Walls of My
Heart” a Christian medical doctor and a Psychiatrist, who has seen many set
free when they brought their minds under the lordship of Jesus Christ, this is
what he has to say, “The human mind or the intellect is one of Satan’s greatest
psychological playgrounds. He controls our minds, through the thoughts of
inferiority, insecurity, guilt and a sense of failure.”
In psychiatry, it is called, “hearing
voices” But when we read the scriptures, we know where these negative, and
destructive voices come from. We understand from the bible that evil spirits
can speak and influence people to do some crazy things. But the good news is
that Christ came in to the world to destroy the works of the evil one and set
people free from his clutches. The scripture tells us that we will know the
truth and the truth will set us free. Before we talk about the truth, let’s see
how the enemy controls our minds through wrong thought patterns.
I The crippling effect of Inferiority:
The gut-level
feeling of inferiority grips many minds, paralyzing the ability to think rightly
and differently. We live in a celebrity saturated world, where we compare
ourselves to those who are more beautiful or successful than us. We say to
ourselves things like, “I am too fat,” or I am too skinny,” I’m too small,” I’m
too tall, and so on. All too often we allow ourselves to be convinced of our
inferiority for whatever reason and so become an easy prey for the enemy. Inferiority
can destroy our confidence. The second wrong thought pattern is insecurity.
II
The frightening effect of Insecurity
Insecurity is rampant in today’s
society. There are many external and internal factors that make us feel
insecure. Insecurity is a direct result of the love deficit and the message of
rejection we receive in childhood. When children are not adequately loved by
their parents they grow up to be very insecure. I grew up in a home where both my
parents were busy working and we were often left to be taken care of by our grandparents.
I never heard from my dad that he loved me and accepted me. As a child, I
craved his love, approval and affirmation.
Growing
up in an environment where there was a love deficit, made me into a very
insecure and fearful young person. During my early Christian life, I had a hard
time accepting and believing in myself. I struggled with inferiority, rejection
and fear. But thank God, he has graciously set me free from those destructive
thought patterns. It is not that I don’t struggle anymore with inferiority and
insecurity, but I have learned now how to think differently.
III
The fear of failure.
The
words to a popular song in the 70’s go as follows, “You're no good no good, no
good, no good, Baby you're no good, no good no
good” Sadly this message reminds me of how my father used to tell me whenever I
failed to do well in the exams. He would say, words like “you are no good, look
at your brother how bright and smart he is you are no good.” That made me live
with a continuous feeling of inadequacy. I believed an inner voice telling me
that I was no good. I’ll never amount to anything. Everything I do is always
wrong and I am a failure.
Many people are obsessed with the
fear of failure, and when they do fail, they seem unable to recover and learn
from the experience. Instead they fall apart, pre-programed to believe the
words they were told as children. Words have incredible power to build us up or
tear us down. Because we failed at something when we were young, we have been
labeled “a failure.”
Just because we have failed at
something it doesn’t mean we are “a failure.” Listen to the basketball legend
Michael Jordon who never let failure hinder him from trying again, "I've
missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times,
I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over
and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Michael
Jordan
Whether we admit or not we all have let these
three wrong thought patterns effect our minds, as a result have experienced un
pleasant consequences. Perhaps some of us are still reeling under those
consequences. The good news is we don’t have to let, inferiority, insecurity
and a fear of failure plague us anymore. We can be free from them by the
renewing of our mind.
IV. THINKING DIFFERENTLY
Do you feel like you are trapped in
your own negative thought patterns and unable to break free? I have good news
for you, you can change the way you are thinking. The first thing you have to
do is to surrender your life to Jesus, by way of asking him to come into your life.
That is the first renewal. When Christ forgives your sins, and comes into your
life, you become a new creation, which means now you become a child of God and
part of his family.
It is only the beginning from that
point on wards you will begin to take steps to cultivate a different lifestyle
and a right way of thinking. One of the steps is that you will become a part of
a church where God’s word is honored, taught and practiced. So that you can
grow together with other brothers and sisters. Remember, when Jesus was tempted
by Satan in the wilderness He used God’s word, the sword of the Spirit and
overcame the temptations. Similarly, next time when the enemy whispers lies
into you mind, you will pull up your scripture sword and cut that lie with the
truth. For example, if the enemy says, you are inferior, don’t accept it reject
it by quoting the scripture: ‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” (Psalm
139:14).
I am the apple of His eye, (Zech2:8)
I have been engraved in the Palm of His Hand (Isaiah 49:16). When you feel
insecure and fearful remember, God will never leave you and forsake you.
(Hebrew 13:5-6), you are more than a conquer if God is for you who can be
against you (Romans 8:28-31). When you feel like a failure and afraid to take
on a new challenge, say to yourself I am deeply loved and accepted by him and I
am his beloved son, in me God is well pleased. (Matthew 3:17), speak to
yourself saying my self-worth does not depend on my performance because while I
am still a sinner Christ died for me (Romans 5:8), I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).
If the enemy still persists, and
tries to discourage you rob your peace, remind him of his destiny, that Christ
had defeated him on the cross and soon the God of peace will soon crush him
underneath your feet (Romans 16:20). These are not just positive thoughts, but
they are the truth. I guarantee you, the more you speak up, believe and make
these truths your own, the more freedom you will experience from negativity. It
is about time we start to think differently.
I want to close with an exercise
that you need to do daily that would make you think differently and renew your
mind. Phil 4:8-10 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. Whatever
you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me put it into
practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” May the Lord help us to all
to think differently. Amen
