Sound Mind

   For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  - 2 Timothy 1:7

I’ve been living in fear a lot lately – ok let’s be real, for a long time.  And now our son is going to be four years old at the end of the month and it’s like a whole new world is opening.  We need to finalize our decisions on if/where to send him for VPK, which sport(s) we can finally enter him in, and where to enter him in those sports, etc.  2 Timothy 1:7 keeps coming to my mind when I get tangled in my thoughts about it all.  

It’s also Christmas time and it’s the last week…and I’m SO far behind.  How did this happen?  I started SO long ago to prepare, looking online for what gifts to get people…and like I said, it’s a week out and…I’m…I’m… “…sound mind” momma.  This verse means God has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind and we have been called to live this verse no matter how hard it is to do in our daily lives.  Read the verse again. 

  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  - 2 Timothy 1:7

Maybe you’d like to write it on an index card or sticky note and keep it in front of you this week.  By the way, you will be a shining light for Jesus if you practice this verse especially this week.

A Sound Mind

You know, in my life, one of the greatest strongholds the enemy uses to trap me in his lies is my own thoughts/emotions. Take any of the above statements on the left, and you can believe that I have felt that way or said that to myself throughout the course of my life. In times like this, I base my view of reality on a thought or feeling rather than a spiritual truth.

As a mother of 2 girls, I realize that they will most likely experience these same insecurities and doubts at some point in their lives, and I am so grateful to have this tool to help teach them and myself how to fight and win this spiritual battle for our minds and hearts.

Ephesians 6 goes through the armor of God and how we are to fully clothe ourselves in order to fight the daily battle for our souls. Much of this armor is for our protection i.e. shield of faith to protect against enemy attacks, helmet of salvation to keep our minds from believing his lies, breastplate of righteousness as a guard over our hearts, etc. But we do have a weapon in this battle... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. For every lie, there is a truth found in the living Word of God. Satan cannot handle the truth (anybody else picturing Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men?). In fact, he runs from a fight (Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. -James 4:7).

I am keeping these Scriptures in my arsenal to combat every lie, every doubt, and every fear that seeks to overtake me and my children. Our thoughts and doubts can too easily consume us and leave us frozen in fear and trepidation if we are not careful. They can keep us from living God's best for our lives. Let's arm our children for battle by speaking these truths to them and helping them base their reality on the Word of God rather than the falsehood from father of lies.

Lord, I pray right now that in the battle for my mind, thoughts, and emotions, You would fully clothe me in spiritual armor and go before me in this battle. I pray that I would focus on the truth in Your Word and not believe the lies of the enemy that would seek to hinder me from Your best plan for my life and the lives of my kids. I lift up my children to you, Lord. Please help me to establish a foundation based on truth. Help me to recall these Scriptures and speak them to my kids when the enemy would try and tempt them to believe his lies. May they develop sound minds that fully believe in You and Your truth, and may they be confident in their faith in You. Help them to see themselves through Your eyes spoken through the truth found in Your Word rather than the deceptive whispers of Satan. May we forever stand upon the rock of Your Word and allow it to be our source of strength and our weapon in this spiritual battle. In Jesus' name, Amen.