FIGHTING THE RIGHT BATTLE (3 Part Series)

2 CORINTHIANS 10:1–6

PART 3: FINAL APPLICATION — WHO IS DRIVING YOUR MIND?

Imagine that your mind is a car.

Different passengers will try to get inside.

Fear.
Anger.
Pride.
Jealousy.
Lust.
Bitterness.
Worry.

The problem is not simply that these passengers appear. The problem comes when we hand them the steering wheel.

Fear says: “Let me drive.”
Anger says: “Move over. I will handle this.”
Pride says: “Don’t apologise. You did nothing wrong.”
Bitterness says: “Don’t forget what they did to you.”
Lust says: “Nobody will know.”
Worry says: “You cannot trust God with this. Take control yourself.”

And Paul says:
“Take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

So perhaps we should ask one final question:

WHO IS DRIVING MY MIND?

Is it fear?
Is it anger?
Is it pride?
Is it bitterness?
Is it what other people think?

Or is it Jesus Christ?

WHEN A WRONG WAY OF THINKING BEGINS TAKING CONTROL:

STOP
Don’t immediately react.

IDENTIFY IT
What am I actually thinking?

TEST IT
Does this agree with God's truth?

CAPTURE IT
Refuse to allow the lie to control you.

REPLACE IT
What does God’s Word say?

OBEY CHRIST
Now respond according to the truth.

CLOSING CHALLENGE
Maybe we have spent a lot of time asking God to change everybody around us, while God wants to change something inside us. Maybe the person in front of you is not the main problem. Perhaps the deeper issue is: your anger. your pride. your fear. your bitterness. your thinking. your obedience.

So as you leave, carry these six questions with you:

1. How do I respond when I have the power to fight back?
2. What is driving my response?
3. Am I fighting the right enemy?
4. Am I using the right weapons?
5. What am I allowing to control my thinking?
6. What is Christ asking me to obey?

And perhaps the most important question of all:

Is Jesus truly Lord of the way I think, respond and live?

Because Christian victory is not simply: “I proved that I was right.”
Christian victory is: “Even in the middle of the battle, I became more like Jesus.”

CLOSING PRAYER
Lord Jesus, teach us to recognise the real battles in our lives. Give us Your meekness and gentleness. Help us not to react according to the flesh. Show us when we are fighting the wrong enemy and using the wrong weapons. Teach us to pray, to trust Your Word and to depend on Your power. Expose every lie and every way of thinking that stands against Your truth. Help us to bring our thoughts under Your authority, and give us hearts that are willing to obey You. May You be Lord not
only of what we do, but also of how we think, speak and respond. In Jesus’ name, Amen.