This is not an organ or something that can be physically seen or touched. It resides in the brain and manifestations of it include thoughts, emotion, memory, perception, imagination and so on; which are all activities that take place in the brain. Hence, the mind and brain are often used interchangeably, as will be in this post.

The human mind or brain is one of the most fascinating things created by God. It controls virtually every other part of the body; containing several billion neurons that relay information within and outside the body to ensure proper body functioning. We can likewise say that the human mind is also very powerful. As Christians, how then can we train our minds in a way that it aligns with what God desires for us?

To be able to use your mind effectively especially as a Christian, you have to be in the know of how it works. The first thing to note is that the mind works like a recorder; generally, for all living things but more advanced in man. For instance, think of a child and how he learns his name over time. Repeatedly, the parents would call “John, John”. After a while, the child gets the understanding that whenever the name “John” is called, it is a signal that he is being called. The child’s mind has then succeeded in recording not only the name as his, but also the voice of his parents or whoever, as the case may be. In the same manner, whatever you play in your mind or to your hearing or that you expose yourself to, becomes recorded in your mind. If you are constantly exposing yourself to negativity, no matter how you try, you would never see positivity in anyone, anywhere or anything. If you are in the habit of participating in activities that could weaken your spirit man, you will find yourself falling in temptation too often because your mind has recorded those sinful things as the norm.

Another fun fact is that the human mind is unable to process information in negative. Let me give you an illustration; no matter what, do not imagine a huge orange octopus sitting on your bed with a guitar. Well, of course you imagined it and that’s the exact point I’m driving at. It’s easy for you to imagine or think of something when you’re told not to. That is because the human mind cannot process in reverse (negative). If there is a door in a building bare of instructions, no one might want to know what is behind the door but the moment you place a sign that says “do not open this door” the curiosity arises. This factor at times, limits the faith of many Christians. You pray for something, let’s say a car but then you begin to think “what if I don’t get the car” and when you’re trying to reverse that thought, it’s already too late and no matter how you try to have faith, you see yourself doubting again.

My country people say “it is very easy to bend a fresh fish into different shapes possible, but the moment the fish is smoked or roasted and it dries up, if you bend it, it’d break”. As you have rightly guessed, this is also applicable to the human mind. Be very careful of what you feed your mind with over time because it becomes part and parcel of you and unlearning those things become harder as one is already accustomed to it. This is why Scripture lays much emphasis on the renewal of our minds (Ephesians 4:23; Romans 12:2). When a person gets born again, his spirit becomes born again and one with the Lord but he still has pretty much the same mind as he did before getting saved (1 Corinthians 6:17). He already has a preformed mindset. This is also a reason why the Bible recommends knowing God from our youthful age (Ecclesiastes 12:1) because then we are still fresh fish, our minds can still be tailored to how we want it to be but once adulthood sets in, it becomes much more difficult (not impossible). So, a constant renewal of our minds with the word of God to know the heavenly standard of things even in this world is very important in sustaining our relationship with God, even as youth whose mindsets are still being formed (matter of fact, this is the best time for the renewal).

The key to the mind is understanding…a brain/mind that fails to understand is almost as good as non-functional. God holds the key to our minds (Job 32:8 AMP) and He has given us the instruction manual on how best to put it to work. He has given us His word, the Bible to guide our decision making, emotions, thoughts, perception on things and every other thing the mind controls. For we that have given our lives to Him, we have been informed that one, “…God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV).  Two, we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Screen what you let into your mind through the word of God because as emphatically stressed in this post, what you let into your mind, becomes you. (Proverbs 23:7)

Remember, the mind feeds on something no matter what; it is unable to stay dormant…even when we’re at sleep it keeps working (dreams). As believers if we fail to occupy our minds with things of the Lord then the devil will come and fill up the space. There is really no neutral ground; it is either this or that. So, which would you choose, to feed your mind with the things of God or to leave the devil to do his own thing?