Brainwashed or Brain-Cleansed?

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. (Romans 8:5-7)

There are philosophies out there that propose 'positive thinking' is all we need to overcome even the worst of things going on around or within us. The truth of the matter is that humans can 'think positively' all they want, but as long as the mind hasn't been surrendered to Christ, negative thoughts will continue to emerge, as will negative actions. It is more than a 'mind game' that we play - it is a difference in who is in control of our minds!

Let the Spirit of God control your mind and you will soon begin to understand the power of God's presence in your life. The mind is a battleground of sorts and the one who 'commands' the battle matters. In and of ourselves, we cannot win the warfare by positive thoughts. We need an exchange of thoughts - an exchange of control and leadership. The Spirit of God isn't about to let any enemy of our soul win the battle - he will overcome ALL that opposes the holiness of God within us.

There will come a time when each of us is at our breaking point. We won't want to move forward for fear we will do or say something that will create even more negative chaos in our lives. We won't break free of those negative thoughts until we allow the one who can bring absolute peace and assurance into our lives take control. That means we surrender to Christ, allowing his Spirit to indwell our minds and hearts, then allow him to change the way we 'think'. 

Does this mean that we all get 'brainwashed' by some 'religious activity'? No, but it is a bit like having our brain washed! We find out how quickly the way we have been perceiving life has been affected by the way we have allowed our minds to think. In essence, we are all in need of a good 'washing' of our thought life and a replacement of all that is negative, unholy, and dishonoring to God to be accomplished. 

Sin will dominate our thoughts until we invite God's presence into our lives. We aren't being 'brainwashed' by some 'religious activity' as much as we are being 'brain cleansed'. Once the Spirit of God is in control, we begin to see things differently. We don't need to muster up positive thoughts to overcome negative things we are perceiving - we just need to tap into his presence and allow him to help us see those things through his eyes. Just sayin!