Over these past years, we have seen the popularization of the concept of the mind and its workings in all spheres of life. Today, we hear sermons about the mind in our churches; read about it in books and we are constantly bombarded with information about the mind on our various social media platforms. Teachings about the mind is one thing that that cuts across religious boundaries and other fields of human endeavour. Maybe, like me, you have been wondering what all the fuss is about. Why don’t we take some time in this article to reason if the mind and its workings is really worth all that hype.
We can never hold any discourse about the mind without referring to Proverbs 23:7, which by the way is a popular verse in the Bible. Preachers use this verse in their sermons; lawyers, doctors, counsellors, motivational speakers also use it, and so will I. If you are familiar with this verse, then you’ll know that it says something along the lines of ‘For as he (a person) thinks in his heart, so is he.’ What this verse does is that it connects our thinking, ‘thinks in his heart’ with our identity, ‘so is he’. That’s a great hacking tool of life we have here. Although we are who we are, our thinking has a way of manipulating our identity so much that we can take on a new identity and experience life in the light of that identity. In case you aren’t sure about the relationship between the Bible verse I just quoted and the mind, then you can look at it this way; thoughts are the fuel of the mind. When thinking is going on, then we can be sure that the mind is also at work. No wonder the mind is such a sought-after subject of discussion today.
There is another verse in Romans 8, I think verse 5, which says ‘For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh…’ This scripture also draws the line of relationship between our compulsive actions- what controls us- and our minds. Once we set our minds in a certain direction, we give it the authority to control our actions in that direction be it unto good or evil.
So, when we talk about the mind, we are talking about that which is able to manipulate your identity so that you experience life through the lens of your new identity. We are also talking about that which is able to literally control us so that we behave in a particular way under certain circumstances. Dear reader, don’t be put off by the endless noise about the mind out there. Instead, understand that the subtle message that they all want to communicate is that your mind wields more power than you think and it’s about time you started being mindful about your mind.
Restpiration 