Spirit-Led Thinking Will Lead Me to Life

In Romans 8:6 I read, “If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace.” (ERV)

Making changes in any area of my life requires that I change the way I think. That’s because my brain is where God’s Spirit works.

God’s Spirit works through my mind! Often we use the metaphor of our heart being the place where God works. For example, we say, “I invited Jesus into my heart.” But my heart is really just a symbol for my brain. My brain is where I think—so it’s in my mind that God begins the change process. It’s where the reset will actually take place.

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:23-24, “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person” (CEV).

I was created to be like God, but that doesn’t happen instantly. To grow into someone who’s more like Jesus, I’m going to have to go through a lot of change and I’m going to have a lot of resets. So becoming a new person in Christ starts with changing the way I think.

When Satan suggests an idea in my mind, that’s called temptation. When God suggests an idea in my mind, that’s called inspiration.

It’s my choice every moment of life which ideas I’m going to hold on to and which ones I’m going to reject. Whether I accept or reject a temptation or an inspiration is all up to me. I get to choose what ideas are going to control my life.

Romans 8:6 says, “If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace” (ERV).

God wants me to live a full, meaningful, purposeful life. He wants me to grow in faith and spiritual maturity. But it’s my choice each moment of every day. Will I choose the way that leads to life?

So daily I must consciously choose to center my life on God, find and use God's Word to discover His guidelines, and then follow them. In every perplexing situation, I can ask, "What would Jesus want me to do?" When the Holy Spirit points out what is right, I should do it eagerly.