Stress, worry, fear etc & the Christian

Now that we understand that the renewing of our minds is something that we do in obedience to God’s command to put off our old self’s and be made new in the attitudes of our minds.

Ephesians 4:22-27 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

The Lord gives us the ability to do this and the strength and self discipline to do it.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Of course, as with everything else, we must ask His help and trust in Him to give us that help. Like everything else in His Word though, He wouldn’t tell us to do something without giving us the ability to do it.

I wanted to share another verse with you too that speaks to this idea of “thought control”.

Ephesians 4:29-30 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

We already know that before we speak a word verbally the thought must already be in our minds. Therefore if we are not to allow unwholesome talk, then we must also stop the unwholesome thoughts, correct?

To further show that this is indeed what the Lord intends, please look at this next verse which I’m sure we’re all very familiar with. However we don’t usually look at it in connection with this:

Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

What is involved for a man to look at a woman lustfully? (Or for a woman to look at a man lustfully?) What is behind it? Thoughts are behind it! It’s what the man or woman is thinking that is the sin! So here, Jesus is telling us to control our thoughts and not just our actions!

Please look back up at Ephesians 4:29-30 now. Notice the last line which says, “and do not grieve the Holy Spirit”. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit. Thoughts that are lies and contrary to God’s Truth are sins. They are thoughts expressing our doubts about God, about His love for us, His willingness to help us, or His ability to, etc. These kind of thoughts that God wants us to control are sins.

That thought alone made me feel just awful when I first realized it. Oh I knew that I was a sinner and that I sinned every day, but I didn’t realize to just what extent I was sinning. When I finally realized it, it just crushed me. And that’s what it’s supposed to do! When the Lord reveals sin in our lives to us, He doesn’t do it to just make us feel bad; He does it so that we will repent (turn away from it) and not do it anymore. (or at least put forth the effort not to do it anymore)

2 Corinthians 7:9-10 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

When we feel that godly sorrow, it causes us to want to do everything we can to not repeat that sin. God sees and hears that and He responds both by forgiving us and helping us overcome it.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Lastly let’s take one more look at the first passage I posted today from Ephesians 4:22-27. Again, notice the last line in that passage: “do not give the devil a foothold”. When we allow those thoughts to continue without stopping them, we are giving Satan a foothold in our lives. He uses those thoughts to make us ineffective Christians and to prevent us from living a life of victory in Christ.

The Lord has no desire for us to be depressed, worried and all stressed out. He can’t use us when we’re like that, but more then that, He loves us and doesn’t like to see us hurting like that! Do you remember what Jesus said He came to us for?

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

If you think about all the kinds of thoughts we listed before as the type we need to stop and bring into the obedience of Christ, what kind of attributes to they have? They’re negative, and they destroy our peace, our relationship with the Lord and they destroy our very lives! That alone should more then give us a clue that they are not from God but from Satan! That’s Satan’s job description! Our Lord came for the opposite reason though. He came to save us and to give us a full life here and now—a life full of His love, peace and joy! Our Lord doesn’t tell us that hard work and strict observance of His rules is our strength, He tells us that His joy is our strength!

When we renew our minds by replacing those bad thoughts with the Truth from His Word, then we can finally begin to experience an abundant life of victory in Christ full of the joy of the Lord. That, my friends, is what our Lord wants for us!

Join us at FH for this study on Stress!