Your Spirit Is Fine, Your Mind Needs Work

You got born again and still lost your temper this week. That does not mean nothing happened. It means the part of you that was made new is not the part that just reacted.

The Bible uses the word heart for more than your spirit. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Soul and spirit sit so close together that only God's Word can tell them apart.

Your spirit was made brand new the moment you believed. That part is finished and it is not up for review. What still needs renewing is your soul, your thoughts, your feelings and your choices, and that is where the struggle actually lives.

That is why Scripture keeps talking about a whole heart. Acts 8:37 says, "And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." James 4:8 says, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." A double mind is not rebellion. It is a soul that has not caught up with what your spirit already knows.

You renew a mind the same way you got saved, by receiving. Philippians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Peace does the guarding. You do the trusting, and the Holy Spirit does the changing.

So stop grading yourself by your worst reaction. The new you is already in there. Feed your mind the Word and watch your soul slowly agree with what your spirit has believed all along.