What do you see when you look in the mirror? Look beyond the physical. Look deeper into your worth and value. Is your initial thought about yourself positive or negative? No doubt your opinion of yourself fluctuates from day to day. Lots of things bombard your identity and self esteem. This is precisely why Paul reminds us to renew our minds–to renew what’s really true. We need to renew our minds in two ways: proactively and reactively. 

     Proactively we renew our minds through our devotional time or by memorizing scripture. Every time scripture passes through the hallways of our mind, it swipes out the lies and mops the floors with truth. If we didn’t have an enemy and weren’t living in a cultural that’s progressively opposing God’s ways, then we wouldn’t need to renew our minds. If we didn’t have a predisposition to resist God, our minds would just rest in the truth all the time. But this isn’t the case. We live in a battle zone and we can’t underestimate how much we need to proactively renew our minds.

     Reactive renewing of our minds is different. This is what we do the moment negative thoughts and lies come into our minds. We immediately confront them with the truth, declaring it out loud. Don’t go a single lap around the track with thoughts that don’t line up with God’s Truth. Don’t give them an inch…or they’ll take a mile. The moment the lies of unworthiness, failure and condemnation enter your mind, react by renewing your mind.

     Ephesians 1:3-11 is a great passage to memorize or keep close at hand. It’s God telling you what is true about those who are in Christ. I use every single day to renew my mind–every single day, multiple times. I’m fighting the same battle you are and I can tell you with all confidence, we can win it in Christ.