After a person experiences salvation and forgiveness of sins, a battle in his mind will eventually begin. A new believer will usually experience a “honeymoon” phase in this new relationship with God. The believer has stepped out of darkness and despair and entered a new world where there is hope and love. Everything is bright, new, and exhilarating. Colossians 1:13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love…” It is indeed a “honeymoon” where a person comes alive and experiences how wonderful and fresh the love of God is.

The mind is where spiritual battles take place. You may have heard the term “mind control.” It’s real. The devil does indeed want to control your mind. And however long you have lived before you accepted Jesus as the Lord of your life, that is how long the devil has had free access to your thought life without you knowing it. The new believer will have many thoughts and beliefs that are not of God and are not true. The devil deceives us into believing lies. When he controls what we think, he controls us. 

But when we accept the payment for our sins and become “born again,” we come out of the kingdom of darkness and into God’s light. We are then commanded to “renew our minds.”  Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” A new nature, which is actually God’s nature, has come into our hearts. We see things differently. When we are baptized in His Holy Spirit, or filled with His Spirit which is a separate experience, He helps us live according to the word of God. It is attainable, but we have to change our thinking and begin to think like God thinks. And for that, we have to study the word of God so that we can learn how God thinks. God is always positive, hopeful, loving, and faithful.

Now that we have this new nature inside of us (Ezekiel 36:28-32), we can make it our aim to love Him and please Him with our actions. It comes from our heart. We want to. Everything we formerly believed now comes under the scrutiny of the light of God’s word. The Holy Spirit is happy to help us change our beliefs about most everything. Studying the word of God is the way to transformation in our thought life. Where we previously believed drug use was okay, we no longer do. Where we thought unrestrained fornication was all right, we no longer do. Where we once thought saying unloving things about others was no big deal, now the Spirit of God living inside of us begins to convict us. Some things are easier for us to reject in our minds than other things. Gossiping, overeating, smoking, and other sins of the flesh may not be viewed as sin. Believers may not be aware of how God feels about these things. But God is patient. The Holy Spirit will reveal truth to you, and you will learn what pleases Him. He truly does live inside of you, guiding you, instructing you, and protecting you.

Get used to learning to change your thoughts and especially your opinions. This battle in the mind is real. We have believed lies most of our life. We must be prepared to war against the deceiving spirits of darkness that have previously ruled us. The devil doesn’t give up easily. He’s always ready to deceive us and lead us astray from the truth if he can. Our protection from his lies is in knowing Jesus and the truth of His word.

The scriptures say Jesus has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3 “…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,..” Jesus has all authority (Matthew 28:18) and has given us authority over all the powers of the evil one. We must take that authority and use it on behalf of ourselves, our families and our society.