Fighting Fire with Fire (#33 of 365+)

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22 ESV)


Joni’s opening paragraph floored me: “Our culture is a pushover when it comes to letting passions prevail. Especially Christians. It’s not at the banquet of the wicked where we stuff ourselves on evil deeds. We’ve become voyeurs, sampling what we’ve convinced ourselves is a safe, nibbling-at-an-arm’s length distance from the table of the wicked. It’s not pagans who have a problem with the world, the flesh, and the devil; it’s believers."

She went on to say our “fight of faith is played out on the field of [our] thoughts”, that “daydreams and fantasies only frustrate, bringing feelings of restlessness and dissatisfaction with the way things are” and “The fight of our faith against wrong thinking is the fight to stay satisfied with God. The battle involves more than rejecting evil; it’s pursuing God. It all comes down to knowing Jesus better.” Amen, sister.

I started this blog because I had allowed negative thoughts to creep into my mind and I felt overwhelmed with everything. After years of being a Christian and being around other Christians, I had learned the best way to combat this funk (I think the clinical term is “depression”) was daily prayer and filling my mind with God’s word. And it has worked! Even after adding a lengthy devotional time to my already-busy mornings, I don’t feel as burdened as I once did.

So I completely relate to this battle of faith in the mind that Joni was talking about. I think it’s a common struggle for all of us yet we don’t readily acknowledge it or we underestimate the danger involved. Just because no one else can see or hear our thoughts (or be hurt by our thoughts) doesn’t mean that no one is going to get hurt. Most sin begins as a little seed in the mind. It may take some time, but if we keep nurturing the thought then it will grow and become sin (James 1:15), and sin kills everything. Sin kills our faith, our relationships, and our witness. I’m speaking to myself as well as anyone else who reads this when I say: Don’t be fooled for a second that God isn’t enough and you need something more. Replace your misguided passion with a passion for God. Only he can satisfy your soul! As Jesus promised, “He who believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

Lord, if my mind is to be consumed with anything today let it be consumed with thoughts of you. Amen.