(Romans 12:2)
When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the life of God comes into your heart, or spirit being, and you become a new creature in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17.) Your head, however, is still full of the same old thoughts you had before giving your life to Christ.
When you think the wrong, or sinful, thoughts, your body will follow in that direction. To continue living in sin when your heart is filled with the life of God only brings guilt, condemnation, and frustration.
Unfortunately, this is where many Christians are today. They know what is right, but their unrenewed thinking leads them in a wrong direction.
The mind is a battlefield for many. Whatever you think about constantly will eventually be acted out in your life. You cannot put garbage in your mind and expect something good to come out. If you want a different output, then you have to change the input.
If the life you are experiencing is not what you want, then you must increase the amount of time you spend reading, hearing, studying, and meditating on God’s Word. The light of God’s Word will drive darkness out of your life.
Some people try to quit sinning—lying, stealing, lusting, and getting angry, to name a few areas of challenge of the old nature. Sometimes they ask their pastor to pray their old sinful nature out of them, but no amount of praying will work. If their minds aren’t renewed with God’s Word, they’ll still think wrong thoughts and act out what they are thinking. It’s only by putting so much of the Word inside of you that sin will quit you. This is the only way to overcome your old, sinful nature.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Billy Joe Daugherty was founder and pastor of Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was also the founder of Victory Christian School, Victory Bible Institute and Victory World Missions Training Center. Five hundred twenty-three Victory Bible Institutes have been started in eighty-five countries around the world. He inspired individuals and ministries with his life, love and influence for more than 30 years.