How Do I Win the Battle of My Mind?

What you think about today will be lived out in your life tomorrow. It is critical to understand who you are in Christ. If you have come to grips with your sin, confessed it to God, fully surrendered your life to Jesus, and are being led by the Spirit, you are rich beyond imagination. The real challenge is getting rid of a destructive or “losing” mindset.

In the second home my wife and I purchased, the bathroom wallpaper was really out of style. Junanne told me, “Bub (my nickname), the wallpaper has to go.” I agreed. But we got busy with life and got used to the wallpaper, so it stayed up for years, and every guest that used that bathroom saw how hideous it was.

Consider Your Mental Wallpaper

If I walked into your mind, what wallpaper would I see? We have messages wallpapering our minds, and if they’re not aligned with the truth of God’s words, they’re going to conceal the truth of His promises. What are the words on your mind? Are they self-loathing like, “fool, failure, mistake, loser, broken, or damaged?” Or maybe they’re self-elevating, like “I got it, glad I’m not them, what’s in it for me?” Either way, it’s got to change.

Junanne loves to tell women she mentors to “wallpaper your mind with truth.” But then she helps them do it. I began to hear it so much I started using the process as well. Dr. Caroline Leaf captures the idea this way: “When you objectively observe your thinking with the view to capturing rogue thoughts, you in effect direct your attention to stop the negative impact and rewire healthy new circuits in your brain.” In this resolution, I’ll give you simple steps to strip the lies off the walls of your mind and put the truth up.

“You deserve to know your true identity.”

Let’s first get a solid standard for right thinking – some good-looking wallpaper. You deserve to know your true identity. Jesus died for you to be free from lies and think truth. Knowing who you are “in Christ” is the most fantastic truth you can internalize. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus and received His grace and forgiveness, you have become a new person.

Winning the Battle Takes Discipline

It’s never one-and-done in your battle to think truth. It’s a lifetime discipline, with plenty of challenges but a vast reward. Everything about your life flows from thinking rightly about who you are. The most joyful and fruitful people I know still need to regularly revisit the truths listed below. Read these slowly and soak them up.

• I am loved as much as anyone has ever been loved. (1 John 4:10)
• I am officially one of God’s kids. (John 1:12)
• I am chosen by God. (John 15:16)
• I am inseparable from God. (1 Cor. 6:17)
• I am carrying the life of God inside me. (1 Cor. 6:19)
• I am a vital member of God’s bigger family. (1 Cor. 12:27)
• I am identified by God as a saint, not a sinner. (1 Cor. 1:2)
• I am free from any and all condemnation. (Rom. 8:1)
• I am a brand new creation. (2 Cor. 5:17)
• I can go straight to God with anything. (John 16:26-27)
• I am able to receive wisdom for any trial. (James 1:5)
• I am absolutely inseparable from God’s love. (Rom. 8:38-39)

God doesn’t just love us. We’re accepted, changed, and made whole – spiritual winners in the most significant way. In their book The Cure, authors John Lynch, Bruce McNicol, and Bill Thrall explain how this acceptance is dependent on one thing alone: “This life in Christ is not about what I can do to make myself worthy of His acceptance, but about daily trusting what He has done to make me worthy of His acceptance.”

6 Steps to Fight the Battle for Your Mind

The Bible’s sixty-six books are chock-full of liberating truth – how much God loves us, who we are in Christ, and what we now have in the Holy Spirit. The above are just a few of the high points. But imagine what it would be like to have these truths be an active part of your daily thinking. It can and must happen. Here’s how.

1. Make a list

On a blank sheet of paper, list everything you’re thinking about yourself that is troubling or negative. Be as thorough as possible. Ideally, do this exercise with a trusted friend.

2. Read the truth

Read and internalize the bullet list of biblical truths. Don’t move through this too quickly. Reading the items aloud will help firmly plant them in your mind. Reread as often as necessary.

3. Split the list in two

It’s time to separate the list of what you’re feeling or thinking into two columns. With a fresh sheet of paper, draw a line down the center. Write “Lies to Reject” on the top of the left column and “Truth to Own” on the top of the right column. Ask God to help you know that negative thoughts go where.

“What you think about today will be lived out in your life tomorrow.”

4. Hold on to the truth

Tear the list in two. Save the “Truth to Own” column for reference.

5. Burn the lies

It’s time for a ceremony of renunciation. Find a safe place to light the paper on fire. As you burn the list of lies, be sure to agree with God about who you are and that these lies are not it. Enjoy this ceremony.

6. Rehearse the truth

Read the list of truths morning and evening until your mind is wallpapered with the truth. Continue to repeat this process as needed! I do this several times a year myself. It clears my head of lies and gives me actionable truth I need to own – leaning into God’s training grace.