HOW TO FIX YOUR THINKING

EPHESIANS 4:23

What is the most lasting, effective way to change how you think?  What is the most powerful tool to help direct the lives and future of your children?  How do you win over bad habits and thought patterns?  How do I become a positive person?  Keep reading because the answer is there.

Ephesians 4:17 lays the ground work by declaring that all Christians will not live the same lifestyle they did before they were Christians. That’s what Paul means when he says to not walk as the Gentiles, which represented who they were before coming to their new life in Christ.  The old life is described as one of self-centeredness, ignorance, shamelessness, and perversion.

New Study On Criminal Behavior

For years criminal behavior was believed to result from environmental factors such as where a person lived or how he was treated by his parents. But that perspective was challenged by two researchers, Samuel Yochelson and Stanton Samenow, in The Criminal Personality [N.Y.: Jason Aronsen, 1976, 1977, 1986).  Their research revealed that criminal behavior is the result of warped thinking processes. In fact, three sections of volume I (over 200 pages) are devoted to "thinking errors characteristic of the criminal." The researchers wrote, "Abandoning the search for causation and deciding not to work with feelings, we probed the criminal patterns of thought" (p. 52). They concluded, "It is remarkable that the criminal often derives as great an impact from his activities during nonarrestable phases as he does from crime.... The criminal's thinking patterns operate everywhere; they are not restricted to crime" (p. 53). The thinking process of the criminal mind is out of whack. Romans 1:28 calls it "a reprobate mind." The problem is in the criminal's mind, not his environment.

“Criminals come from a broad spectrum of homes, both disadvantaged and privileged. Within the same neighborhood, some are violators, and most are not. It is not the environment that turns a man into a criminal. Rather, it is a series of choices that he makes starting at a very early age" (pp. 104, 247).

They went on to conclude, "Perhaps most important is that [our studies have] demonstrated that a criminal is not a victim of circumstances. He makes choices early in life, regardless of his socioeconomic status, race, or parents' child-rearing practices.... Changing the environment does not change the man" (p. 249).

So we as humans have an issue with our minds.  But God has a remedy.  It is to give us a new mind.  The Bible describes it as a renewing of the mind and spirit.  Let’s get our minds, so to speak, around these principles. 

The Greek word translated "renewed" (ananeoo), in verse 23, is used only here in the New Testament; no where else in the Bible. It means "to create again" or "make new."  This is not the Greek word used in Romans 12, though it is given the same english word. The meaning here is that the mind is new, not so much qualitatively, but thinking in other ways. When you become a Christian, God gives you a new mind.  That’s where it starts.  But now you must fill it with new thoughts. My new baby boy was born with a fresh, new mind.  Now impressions are being made and will help to determine the course of his life.  

How do we become renewed in our mind and spirits? Paul says in Colossians 3:2-3 to set our minds on things that are above.  It only happens when our thinking is directed the right way.  That’s why Paul says in Philippians 4:8, "Whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  It is an issue between our ears.  Do you see that?  And it will always be an issue with our minds.

You have a choice to think on what you want; to listen to whatever you choose.  Just know that it plays the major factor in your behavior; in the direction of your life.

Direct your mind upwards.  Think and listen to those things that promote a healthy life and influence.  Do not give an ear to negative and dirty people.  They will drag you down.

If someone asks you, “How do I live the Christian life?  How do I grow in Christ?  How can I become a productive believer?”, here is your answer.

Be “renewed” in your mind.  Practically, this means to be continually undergoing a restoration process.  Get under the truth tree.  You know, the one with the fruits of positive, encouraging, healthy, giving, selfless, biblical, fruits.  Don’t give your mind junk food.