Don’t Be a Victim of your Mind
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
In James 1:13-15 God paints a picture of how sin is conceived and gives birth to certain behaviors. He says, “When tempted, no one should say God is tempting me, for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone, but each one is tempted by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death.” Picture your thoughts fertilizing your will to conceive actions. There’s that process you have to watch out for. Use caution around what you let in your mind. There’s an inner process of thoughts fertilizing your will and that conception leads to actions.
Be careful what you think because your thoughts run your life. There is a source that runs your life and it’s the internal process of how you are thinking. Recognize the power of the mind. You can move your life toward God and his purpose for your life or you can move away from God and the purpose for what he has created you based on what you allow in your mind. The key to these passages is to understand that sin doesn’t happen in an instant. There is a process; you can short circuit this process by being aware of how this process works. The picture of the process of birth is clear. You should not be blindsided by your sin if you understand the process it will help you snuff out the fire.
Father, thank you for showing me that my actions are a result of a process.