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Three Reasons Resetting My Life Must Begin with Changing My Mindset

Because My Thoughts Direct My Life
Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. Proverbs 4:23 (TEV)

Because My Struggles Happen in My Mind
I love to do God's will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there's something else deep within me that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin within me. In my mind I want to be God's servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. Romans 7:22-23 (LB)

Because It's Where God's Spirit Works in Me!
Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God…            Ephesians 4:23-24 (CEV)
If your thinking is controlled by your old sinful self, it leads to death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Holy Spirit, that leads to life and peace. Romans 8:6 (NCV)

Three Daily Choices for Resetting My Mind

1. Every Day I Must Choose to Feed My Mind with the Best Thoughts
   
   Brothers and sisters, fill your minds with thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, beautiful, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worth praising. Philippians 4:8 (TEV)
   
   Verses & Questions
   A wise person is hungry for truth, while the fool feeds on trash. Proverbs 15:14 (NLT)
   "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth."  John 17:17 (NIV)
   
   Q: Am I being wise or foolish with what I allow in my mind?
   Jesus: "People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God." Matthew 4:4 (NLT)
   
   Q: Am I feeding my soul every day with God's Word?
   The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)
   
   This world, and every desire that people want in this world, is passing away, but those who do the will of God will live forever.       1 John 2:17 (NCV)
   
   Q: Do I pay more attention to temporary news or to the eternal truth of God's Word?
   Jesus: "If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."      John 8:31-32 (NCV)
   
   Q: Would Jesus say I'm a disciple?
   
   Q: Does my media intake create freedom or frustration?
   Oh, how I love your instructions! I think about them all day long. Psalm 119:97 (NLT)
   I rise early... to cry out for help and to put my hope in your words.  Psalm 119:147
   
   Q: When should I feed my mind with God's truth? The answer is ALL THE TIME.

ACTION PLAN: Start managing the amount of time you spend on your devices. Set a time limit for yourself limiting how long you should spend on your device per day (if you have an iPhone or Android, you can set up a screen time limit in the Settings app). Use your newfound free time to get in the Word of God by reading the Bible or through any of our resources at saddleback.com/learn.

2. Every Day I Must Choose to Free My Mind from Destructive Thoughts.
   
   Those who are dominated by their sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. Romans 8:5 (NLT)
   
   Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. [Our weapons] have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish any argument and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:3-5
   
   How Temptation Works
   
   Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and then the evil actions lead to death. James 1:14-15 (NLT)
   
   Step 1: Desire
   Step 2: Doubt: "Did God really say…?"
   Step 3: Deception—Believing a lie of Satan
   Step 4: Disobedience and Defeat

ACTION PLAN: Create a proess for combating temptation and destructive thoughts. First, write out the destructive thoughts or temptations that keep coming to mind. Then, write out what lie from Satan is causing you to experience each thought or temptation. After that, find and write down verses from Scripture that counters that lie and brings you back to the truth of God.

3. Every Day I Must Choose to Focus My Mind on What Matters Most

• Think about Jesus
  
  Keep your mind on Jesus Christ!  2 Timothy 2:8a (CEV)
  
  
• Think about Others
  
  Don't just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they are doing. Philippians 2:4 (LB)
  
  Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds. Hebrews 10:24 (NCV)
  
  
• Think About Eternity
  
  Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. Colossians 3:2 (NLT)

ACTION PLAN: Take a spiritual inventory. On a piece of paper, draw two columns. In the first, write a list of the things that you value most and want to focus on. In the second, write out the things that you devote most of your time to. Often, the things that we give most of our time to are the things that we believe most important. If your ideal values are different than your lived values, start looking at ways that you can make room for the things in the first column. If you want to do a more in-depth spiritual assessment, you can do so here!