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Hello Beautiful Humans!
God is good! He is so faithful to teach us His way when we choose to spend time with Him. Today, I will talk about the importance of finding freedom from sinful thoughts.
I have been thinking about Romans 8 quite a bit recently. After reading Romans 8 over and over again for a week or so, I decided to read the whole book of Romans. After reading through the whole thing, God helped me understand Romans 8 a little bit more. The apostle Paul wrote Romans as a letter to the church in Rome addressing some of the problems they were facing at the time. Apparently, I'm struggling with similar things as the church in Rome was then.
As you read through these verses, I challenge you to read them through slowly. Try to understand what the verses might mean, and think about it.
Romans 8:5-7 NLT
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.
Wow! That's a really heavy passage to read. If you're like me, I usually focus on the "good" words when I read the Bible. I like the phrases "please the Spirit" and "life and peace". But don't be afraid of the phrases, "dominated by the sinful nature", "leads to death", and "always hostile to God". You may feel somewhat uneasy because by reading through it you might realize that your sins have consequences. Don't ignore that feeling. God has something to speak to you in this passage, so let the sharpness of these truths sink into your heart.
Because sin exists, each of us has a sinful nature that fights to take control of our mind. Before Jesus saved us, this sinful nature controlled (dominated) our mind, words, and actions. Choosing to follow Jesus does not make the sinful nature disappear, however. That choice actually began the battle between our flesh (sinful nature) and the Holy Spirit. I hope you have (or will) choose to give your heart to God, but know that the Devil still wants control of you. He will be sneakily fighting for parts of your mind until the day you die.
Verse 6 points out the difference between letting sin control our mind and letting the Holy Spirit control your mind.
If you and I have chosen to follow Jesus, we are not required to live under the power of the flesh. Every day, we need to choose if we are going to let the Spirit control us or if we will let our sinful nature control us. As hard as it is, we can and need to learn to let the Spirit control our thoughts. This change is incredibly hard to make, but it is possible and so worth it.
When we let the Spirit control our thoughts, our words will also be controlled by the Spirit. Luke 6:25 says, "A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart". Your thoughts make up what is in your heart. Letting evil thoughts stay long in your mind leads to evil words. Conversely, letting the Spirit's thoughts fill your mind leads to good, kind, helpful, and inspiring words.
Girls, verse 7 is so important. The key is this: if you long to live a life that pleases God, you NEED to choose the Spirit. You cannot please God and choose to dwell on sinful thoughts. God will still love you, but evil thoughts do NOT bring Him glory. Nothing good ever comes from letting the sinful nature control your mind.
But, it not only pleases God when you think about godly things, but it also benefits you. YOU will be blessed with life and peace.
I encourage you this week to, once a day, try to let the Spirit control your thoughts. I am on this journey right next to you, and am cheering you on. If you want more practical tips on how to overcome sin in your life, check out a post Kaitlyn wrote called, "The Daily Battle". You can find it here: https://thejoysblog.wixsite.com/thejoysblog/single-post/2020/04/20/The-Daily-Battle.
If you would like specific prayer for something, email me (thejoysblog@gmail.com) or DM me @thejoysblog, I'd absolutely love to hear from you and pray for you! <3
That's all I have for today. God's got this!