The Word for Today: You Have a Sound Mind! (1)

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

No matter what others say about you, God says you have ‘a sound mind’! Many people live their lives believing that they’re intellectually inferior—born that way, and will always be that way. The problem with believing this is that you begin to live accordingly. Not because it’s true—but because you believe it’s true! God created us so that whatever we really believe, we act on. So our self-concept becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, we may act stupidly because we believe we’re stupid, or we may act wisely because we believe we’re wise. So we must choose to believe God’s opinion of what we are, and by faith adapt our actions accordingly, until His opinion becomes our opinion! The Bible calls this ‘…the renewing of your mind…’ (Romans 12:2 NKJV). This calls for an attitude transformation, and it can begin with a few small steps. Step 1: Choose to believe what God says about you. Every outcome begins with a choice—an act of your will. No matter what your emotions say, choose to ‘…let God be true, but every man [and every contrary emotion] a liar…’ (Romans 3:4 NKJV). Whatever you’ve said about yourself previously, or whatever others have said, God says He has not given you an attitude of fear, ‘…but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’ He has ‘given’ it to you, but you must choose to believe and receive His gift of ‘…power, love and a sound mind.’ Memorize it, and meditate on it until it takes root in you.

Amen.