Mind Games
I often find myself trapped in my own head. Paralyzed by all of the thoughts jumbled inside and fighting for my attention, I stand still, waiting to see which thought will win the skirmish, allowing me to move on with my day. Each thought lines up to present itself along with its argument for existence. Tasks from my to-do list duke it out first. Next, new ideas and distractions enter the ring, but all of these noble fighters are quickly knocked out by the heavyweight champion of the thoughts waging war for my consciousness. The crowd grows silent as self-doubt and judgment step out of the shadows to command the room and take control of the situation. “Everyone can go now – I am here,” an inner voice echoes off of my now almost-empty mind. No idea or thought dares to challenge this foe. They have all been beaten by him in the past and are very content to stay out of his way.
The real loser in this fight-to-the-death battle for my mind is me. Every time self-judgment and doubt steps in, I, as the referee, call the fight and announce the game over. This is the true cause of my paralysis. I accept self-judgment and doubt’s assessment of myself that I am not worthy, not capable, or not ready to advance and take action. Of course, there is another victim in this death match of thoughts and ideas. Those around me. The people that I am meant to serve, minister to, help, or lead. They all also become a casualty of my morbid mind games.
I don’t believe that I am alone in my susceptibility to the dark influences of self-judgment and doubt. Many of us fall into the trap of inaction caused by the belief that we are not worthy, capable, or ready. So we wait together patiently, hoping that sooner or later self-judgment and doubt will get bored with us and stop showing up to the fight. Sadly, he never goes away, and the more we give in to him, the more persistent he becomes.
The Battle for our Mind
The good news is that we can win the fight and defeat self-judgment and doubt. He does not have to stay the reigning champion over our lives. In this series, we are going to learn how to be victorious. I say “we” because I am learning through God’s word right alongside you. The rest of this series is going to focus on four different battlegrounds that allow self-judgment and doubt into our lives. We are going to look at Spiritual Warfare, Cultural Warfare, Inner Warfare (our past experiences), and Physical Warfare (illness, disabilities, etc.). We’ll examine how each of these four areas affects our sense of self-worth and how to win the battle against each in order to take control of our lives.
Winning The Battle for our Mind
For now, let me leave you with this encouragement from Romans 8:38: “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”
At the end of the day, no matter what our struggles are, we are called to better and greater things than we can ever imagine. Through Christ, we do not have to judge ourselves by our sins, failures, weakness, or inadequacies. We can win the battle waging in our minds and move to turn our lives into amazing testimonies for Christ.
Until next time, peace be with you. You are created worthy and ready for God’s plan for your life.
