God’s Gym – Part VI
A Mental Habit

Scripture Reading: James 1:2-4

Key Verse: James 1:4
So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

The work of changing our mental habits after we receive Jesus into our lives is not easy but extremely important.

One of the reasons to read the Bible and attend church services is to help us get a new image of who God is and what He does in our lives. Once we have the knowledge of what God does in us, we can start this process of developing new mental habits.

As I said previously, for us to become “Kingdom Fit” we need God’s perspective of us firmly planted in our minds. Every attitude and every behavior we have in our lives starts in the mind.

Proverbs 23:7 reminds us:

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

In other words, your mind produces what others see and hear from you.

Do you allow your mind to repeatedly dwell on your mistakes and the sins that you have committed? Do you think that God is mad at you and stands ready to kick you out of His presence? Does your mind at once go to your sins as the reason for your troubles?

If so, you desperately need to develop new mental habits.

The only reason to let your mind think about your past failures is to become deeply grateful for God’s mercy and forgiveness. If your memory of past sins causes you shame and feelings of condemnation, learn to redirect your mind to the truth.

God never shames nor condemns us! He wants us to praise and worship Him out of gratitude when we remember how He has forgiven us. But we must discipline our minds to avoid self-deprecating thoughts.

What does God really think of us? The Bible tells us clearly:

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10).

A different translation says that we are God’s “workmanship”. God sees the finished product of His work in us. He knows His ability to make it happen and that is why He sees us so differently than we see ourselves. We see our failures, and this may cause us to doubt that we could ever be a “masterpiece” for God.

Start developing the mental habit of taking captive every negative thought about yourself and replacing it with God’s positive perspective! This alone can be a real game changer for God’s people.

Father, I want to see myself as You truly see me. Grant me wisdom and strength to change my negative mental habits! In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.