One of the greatest battles we go through is in the mind. This is for everyone! Believers and nonbelievers. Many of us have endured hardships such as verbal/physical abuse, financial struggles, no family support, and much more which cause our minds to hyperfocus more on those issues and hinder us from seeing any beauty in the world. These hardships can often cause us to live in mental torment and are what cause depression, anxiety, insecurities, and many other mental struggles that many of us go through. Because this is so common, the world may try to teach you how to discipline your mind to focus on positive things rather than negative things. Some positive things that you may try to focus on are things that will bring you success and prosperity, your goals, etc. Basically, a life that only you can build for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, the IDEA of this is good because it stems from biblical principles but unfortunately, it doesn’t rid our minds of the underlying issues, it simply tries to just cover them up. This is how celebrities and wealthy people can still battle mental issues no matter how much success and wealth they have. This worldly concept will have you focus your attention on things that do not fully sustain you whereas the bible tells us to focus on Jesus and His goodness because He is the only One that will forever sustain you.
1 Peter 1:13-14 NKJV
“Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance.”
The bible is so amazing because God knows exactly what we go through even before we go through it and has answers to questions we haven’t even asked yet. This scripture alone is so powerful because God knew that our minds have a funny way of tricking us. So He tells us through His word what we ought to do. We often sit and meditate on the lies of the enemy telling us that we aren’t worthy and we could never amount to anything because of our past mistakes and traumas. But I love this scripture because of the part where it says to gird up the loins of your mind and be sober. This phrase comes about because during those times, men wore long robes and women wore long dresses. Anytime they were going to part take in strenuous activity, they would tie their dresses or robes to their belt or girdle and prepare themselves for the activity.
This makes this verse so powerful because Peter was telling us to gird up anything that can cause us to be distracted and not sober in thought! This scripture also states to “rest your hope FULLY upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”. This is what is missed in the world because oftentimes, people don’t want to acknowledge Jesus or they make Him an afterthought. But it is the revelation of who Jesus Christ is that will set you free of mental bondage. Once you understand Jesus’ character, who He is, and His goodness you receive true peace that surpasses all understanding in the midst of your troubling circumstances. Scripture says that “every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
Multiple times throughout scripture, we are reminded to set our minds on the things above and not the things of this world.
Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!” NKJV
Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind of things above, not on things in the earth.” NKJV
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” NKJV
The enemy will have you mentally bound based on the negative thoughts you choose to meditate on and the things of this world that will never sustain you. Peter told us, that it is important to gird up ALL distractions and keep our attention and focus on Jesus. Even when things look bad and nothing seems to be going right in our lives and the world itself gets chaotic, God’s promise is that “all things work for the good of them that love Him and are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28. That means everything; the good, the bad, and the ugly. God will use your story and you will see His hand through it all. He will provide you with peace that you can’t explain, bringing you out of darkness into His marvelous light. That is how great God is!