Fighting the Flesh #6: Mind Games

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”—2 Corinthians 10:4-6

The greatest war is in and for the mind. The mind is ground zero for our life in Christ. Because it is through the mind, specifically the fallen mind where Satan attacks most. He appeals to our sinful desires through the mind, because the mind is the headquarters of the will. If he can get at the mind, then it is just a matter of time before the will crumbles. He seeks to cloud and dull the mind through secular philosophy, godless education, deficient psychology, faulty science, and vulgar entertainment. He very rarely overtly attacks the mind, rather he seeks a more subtle and unassuming approach, by introducing his vile and deceptive philosophy to those whom society most esteems: professors, educators, psychological experts, and entertainers. If Satan can get a believer in Christ to trust the professor without critical thought, then the fallen mind is clay in his hands.

Another way that Satan seeks to use our fallen humanity against us is by recalibrating our conscience. If he can weaken the conscience through an attack on the mind, then he has weakened the Christian’s will substantially. Consider this. Several years ago, I was working with teens at a church in the inner city of Chicago. Once night, I asked them to pretend to work for Satan (don’t ask me why I did this, I can’t remember) and craft a philosophy or attack by which we could infiltrate the ranks of believers. They talked amongst themselves for a few minutes and came forth with this answer: humor. If they could get Christians to laugh at something that God’s Word considers vile or just plain wrong, even for a moment, then they will have found a crack in the Christian’s armor. And better yet, it was totally unexpected. To attack a Christian through abortion, homosexuality, or evolution, was easy enough, but to get a Christian to laugh at something that God’s Word is clearly in condemnation of, was considered the first step in turning the mind.

Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), therefore, it behooves us to understand how a lie works. A lie is a promise of something untrue. And all thoughts—i.e. promises, beliefs, actions, etc., must pass through the brain to be believed or rejected. If Satan can get the lie to be believed, then will takes over and gives birth to action and sin. How then can we avoid this trap? How can we guard our minds?

The first step is making sure that our minds are filled with the knowledge of God. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” We must set our minds to love God. Secondly, we sift every thought that comes into our mind by taking every thought captive, as our passage today teaches. Erwin Lutzer describes “taking every thought captive” as “frisking every thought” like a police officer with a suspect. That’s a great way of looking at it. We need to “frisk every thought” that comes our way. And thirdly, we make sure that we are continually renewing our mind by reading, meditating, studying, and applying the Word of God. Or as Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”—Romans 12:2.

My brother or sister, don’t let Satan get a foothold into your mind! Set our mind on loving and knowing God! And when you do, you will experience the love and peace of Christ. Amen.