You Are Not A Victim

God is calling us to have a sound, well-disciplined mind. There are many Christians today who feel they cannot control the thoughts, desires, and emotions that fill their minds. They feel there is nothing they can do to stop themselves from the worry, temptations, depression, and opposition Satan brings against them. James 4:7; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 12:1-2

Satan wants you to think you are a helpless victim and that there is nothing you can do to control the thoughts in your mind. Satan is a liar! He does not have the ability to control our minds. We do not have to accept the thoughts that he tries to plant in our minds. He cannot force us to think bad thoughts. He cannot force us to worry. He cannot force us to be fearful, discouraged, or depressed

Satan’s power over our minds has been broken. He only has the power to attack our minds when we fail to resist, allowing him to have access to our minds. “…Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

The extent to which we allow Satan to have access to our minds and to control our thoughts is the degree he has control over us. If we become fearful, confused, worried, or depressed, it is because we choose to be that way. I know that sounds hard to believe, but it is true. It is only when we fail to use our wills to resist the thoughts Satan tries to plant in our minds that he gains access and controls our thoughts.

There are Christians today who are allowing Satan to have a “hey-day” in their minds without putting up any resistance or spiritual effort to take their thoughts into captivity. Not only are they allowing every negative, doubting, fearful thought and every temptation to enter their minds, but they are also allowing them to remain and are dwelling upon them. Their excuse is, “I cannot help myself.”

You can help yourself! God has made it possible for you to have a one-hundred percent free, one-hundred percent victorious mind, but you must be willing to take aggressive action. Recognize Satan’s attack on your mind, resist the thoughts he tries to plant in your mind, take authority over them, and cast them out in the Name of Jesus.

Paul told Timothy: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). The Greek word for sound is sophronismos, which is a calling to soundness of mind or to self-control. It literally means discipline. In this verse, Paul was not simply making a statement to Timothy telling him that he had a sound, well-disciplined mind. The word fear in this verse means cowardice.

He was encouraging Timothy not to be fearful and to develop a strong, sound, well-disciplined mind. He was calling Timothy to discipline his mind by taking authority over fear and set his mind on fulfilling the ministry to which God had called him. Make this declaration: “I have a sound, strong, and well-disciplined mind, one that is free from the spirit of fear.”*

Make this declaration:

I have a sound, strong, and well-disciplined mind, one that is free from the spirit of fear.