From the moment that we wake up, thoughts flood our minds. Decisions have to be made. Communication needs to happen in possibly difficult situations. Discouragement can weigh us down with burdens we are carrying. Our thoughts can be overwhelming but negative mindsets can be debilitating.
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Where It Starts
Negative mindsets start with thoughts that eventually are reinforced with other negative thoughts ruminating in our own minds. We don’t often realize that we are drifting to negative mindsets and can feel stuck in our own thoughts. Trapped within the walls of our own mind, we can struggle with depressive, anxious, angry, discontent, doubtful, helpless, lonely, scarcity, and victim mindsets, to name a few. We can begin to believe the negative narrative in our minds if these thoughts are unchecked. And this is the crux of the matter. When we believe the thoughts running through our minds more than God’s thoughts about us or about this life, we don’t live the abundant life that Christ promises and forfeit the peace He longs to give us.
Sometimes our mindset needs a reset. Distracting ourselves by staying busy won’t reset our mindset. We need to understand God’s thoughts and walk in the Mind of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God’s word is a love letter filled with His perfect thoughts. When we lay down our thoughts and pick up God’s we discover freedom and find peace again. Repentance for believing the lies in our head paves the way for a release from negative mindsets.
God invites us to think higher than our own thoughts. Here are some Scriptures that reveal our need to manage our thoughts well. God has not left us without help, friend. Pray and ask God to show you where you might have limiting beliefs that keep you in bondage. When we are in Christ, we no longer have to let negative thoughts weigh us down. We can rise above through God’s word and the Holy Spirit.
1. Our mindset is reset when we set our minds on God’s word and not our own.
Matthew 16:21–23, ESV: “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Sometimes our mindsets fool us. If even Peter could shift from having a mindset fixed on God’s purposes to one that was fixed on the things of men, then we will also need to examine our thoughts.
2. Our mindset is reset when we examine our thoughts in light of God’s word.
Psalm 139:23–24, NLT: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
In today's culture, most of us fall victim to, well, playing the victim. Let's have the strength to allow God's word to convict us.
3. Our mindset is reset when we consider the impact of our thoughts and check them daily against the lens of Scripture.
Proverbs 4:23, GNT: “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”
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4. Our mindset is reset when we fix our thoughts on God rather than on our circumstances.
Isaiah 26:3–4, NLT: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
5. Our mindset is reset when we live according to what we say we believe.
Romans 8:5–8, ESV: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Though we can never expect ourselves to be perfect, we are called to live what we speak, to walk what we talk. This, done in love and humility, is how others will see the beauty of Christ. This is the outside world's access to a tangible, visible faith.
6. Our mindset is reset when we let God transform us by surrendering our thoughts to Him and picking up His.
Romans 12:2, NLT: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
7. Our mindset is reset when we walk in the mind of Christ, and resist being like the world.
1 Corinthians 2:10–16, NLT: “But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”
In today's world, it feels like reputation-suicide to confirm Scripture and deny the world's definition of family, love, and virtue. Just as Paul mentioned, the world deems biblical truth as foolish. Yet, when we embrace Christ's mindset and choose truth, we have the wisdom that leads to eternal life.
8. Our mindset is reset when we develop a Kingdom mindset rather than a worldly one.
Colossians 3:2, ESV: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."
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9. Our mindset is reset when we treat others as Christ would treat them.
Philippians 2:5, NIV: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
10. Our mindset is reset when we don’t let our mind be idle but prepare our minds for battle with the word of God, hoping in God’s thoughts and word that never fail.
1 Peter 1:13, ESV: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Friends, we are never stuck unless we choose to be. We get to choose our thoughts and God invites us to do that with His help. What negative mindset do you struggle with? Do you tend to latch onto the news too easily? Fear, anxiety, and wariness seeping into every other aspect of your life? What about pessimism? Do you allow the negative emotions of others to shift your worldview, only seeing the bad that could happen given the state of not only our nation but the world.
Looking up Scriptures on the mindset we are dealing with can help us to reset our mindset with God’s perspective and also help us to recognize when our mindset is drifting and shifting away from how God wants us to think. Don’t give up on the battle of the mind. It's crucial ground the devil wants to steal. So stay in the fight, but fight with God’s word and prayer. Resetting our mindset is often just a prayer, a single prayer, away.
Originally published Thursday, 31 March 2022.
