“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8 (ESV)
Toxic thinking…what is it? You know that nagging thought that takes seed in your mind? The one that says something along the lines of “you’ll never be good enough to be pleasing to God”, or “I may not be perfect, but I’m certainly better that he/she is”, or “how am I ever going to get through this, it’s too hard”.
In the book of Romans, Paul addresses toxic thinking this way, by reminding the Christians in Rome that “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh…”
Setting our minds on things of the flesh can encompass so much more than just sinful fleshly desires. It can include some of the thoughts that so often plague our minds daily. Thoughts of worry, inadequacy, self-deprecation, judgment of others, etc. The list could go on and on. When we allow these thoughts to take seed in our minds, when we water them, when we tend their soil, they grow! They become something that we believe. They become the things we shape our daily lives by, and here’s the serious issue with that. In verse 7, Paul reminds us that “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
Our toxic thoughts are hostile to God, and hostility defined is unfriendly; antagonistic; opposed. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have any association with something that is unfriendly, antagonistic toward, or opposed to God. In fact, I want to be just the opposite of that. Paul plainly teaches in these verses, that setting our minds on the things of the flesh is “death…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
But we have a choice. When toxic thinking begins to work its way in, when Satan uses that subtle tool of just a thought, we can stop it. We can pluck it from our minds as quickly as it came by simply remembering that we “…live according to the Spirit…”, and we set our minds on the “…things of the Spirit”, and that is ‘life and peace.” We choose God.
“You’ll never be good enough to be pleasing to God” … I choose to believe that I don’t have to be! By God’s grace, He has provided a way for me.
“I may not be perfect, but I’m certainly better than he/she is” … I choose to focus on the good in everyone and accept that God loves us all and expects us to love one another.
“How am I ever going to get through this, it’s too hard.” … I choose to believe that I don’t have to get through this alone, God is there with me every hard step I must take.
I choose God, over and over again, each and every day.
Bill Fairchild, Jr. & Tina Fairchild Gray
With deep appreciation for our daughter’s help during this time we are helping others.
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