Have you ever felt like someone was about to find out your weakness? That’s how I felt when a colleague saw the wallpaper on my phone’s lock screen.
During that period, I was having some unpleasant thoughts. I knew what Philippians 4:8 wanted me to think about but a part of my mind was on a different lane. Some of my thoughts were neither lovely nor pure. Most likely, I had exposed myself to a lot of content that should have been avoided.
At that point, I knew I had to submit to the Holy Spirit and renew my mind. If I allowed the thoughts to fester then I was opening myself up to the likelihood of acting on them. Thankfully, I prayed about it and took actions to guard my mind. One of them included reminding myself about God’s word concerning my body.
To achieve that, I put up an image of a bible verse as my phone’s wallpaper. I believe it was 1 Corinthians 6:19 or verse 20. It was to remind me that I had been bought with a price and my body belonged to God. Therefore, my thoughts about my body needed to please God.
Things were going fine. Then one day at work, a colleague’s attention was drawn to the wallpaper. Ah! He probably just read it but my mind raced through that he would connect the dots. I thought he would figure out why it was there. We didn’t talk about it but it was awkward for me.
Eventually, I realised that I didn’t have to feel weird about the structures I put in place to guard my mind.
As I stated in a previous post, the things you allow through your eyes and ears influence your mind and actions. If you allow just anything through then you open yourself to a lot of unpleasant things. You must intentionally guard your mind. If you’re already dealing with the effects of a wrong exposure, then put in the effort to renew your mind. Wrong thoughts won’t change except you do something about them. Amazingly, you have the Holy Spirit to help you but you must allow Him.
With regards to putting structures to protect your mind, don’t be ashamed about it. Even if others may consider it weird or too much, you should do what is needed. You have the mind of Christ now. So, it matters what kind of thoughts you have.
Since I wanted to control my thoughts, I knew I had to stay away from certain tv shows and movies. I avoided social media pages showing content that were triggers for me. It would have been unhelpful that I was praying and reading God’s word without letting it influence my actions.
Without a doubt, your mind is powerful and as the Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, you should guard it. Your life depends on it. Allow God to renew your mind and desires so you can live a life that is consistent with your new nature.
→ What structures have you put in place to guard your mind, currently or in the past?
📷 : Freepik
8 comments
I sooo get this. Yeah, avoiding triggers. Engaging in other activities. Receiving forgiveness and avoiding dwelling guilt/shame. Thank you for sharing, Oyin
That’s nice, Dipo.
My pleasure! Thanks for engaging. 😊
Thanks for this Oyin. I am learning to feast on the word and also guard what I let in. Prayer and Bible Study keeps me going daily. Accountability also helps.
My pleasure, Tobi. 😊
These are important structures and yes, accountability is great.
Thanks for sharing!
“I didn’t have to feel weird about the structures I put in place to guard my mind…”
THIS!
I have prayer alarms on my phone… labelled, “MEET WITH GOD”
Lol sometimes the alarm goes off and other people have to pass me the phone. Happened one time in school and the fellow thought it was a call and when she saw it, I felt weird but like you said, no need feeling weird structure you put in place to keep your soul. We’ve done so much more for so much less (school, work deadlines etc) how much more for our souls? Thanks for sharing this. I really needed to hear it 🙂
True. True. True.
I’m glad it was helpful, Ozioma. Thank you for the lovely comment.☺️
I do this all the time depending on the situation at the time. No need to feel anyway about it.
Sure thing! Thank you for engaging, Nike.☺️