God is far more interested in changing my mind than changing my circumstances.

We want God to take away all of the problems, pain, sorrow, suffering, sickness, and sadness. But God wants to work on me first, because transformation won’t happen in my life until I renew my mind, until my thoughts begin to change.

Why is it so important that I learn how to manage my mind? 

Because my thoughts control your life. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Be careful how we think; our life is shaped by our thoughts”. The power of my thoughts has tremendous ability to shape my life for good or for bad. 

We need to manage our mind because the mind is the battleground for sin. All temptation happens in the mind. Paul says in Romans 7:22-23, “I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin”. 

One of the reasons why I get mentally fatigued is because there’s a battle in our brain 24 hours a day. It’s debilitating because it’s intense, and it’s intense because our mind is our greatest asset. Satan wants our greatest asset!

Lastly, we need to learn to manage our mind, because it’s the key to peace and happiness. An unmanaged mind leads to tension. A managed mind leads to tranquility. An unmanaged mind leads to conflict. A managed mind leads to confidence. An unmanaged mind leads to stress. 

When I don’t try to control my mind and the way I direct my thoughts, I will have an enormous amount of stress in my life. But a managed mind leads to strength and security and serenity.

“Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (Romans 8:6 NLT, second edition).