“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9)

Your brain is engaged in conflict every single second of your existence

Right now, there’s a mental conflict going on! It might be a choice between what is good and what is bad, what is simple and what is difficult, or what is healthy and what is harmful. Your mind is where all of your personal battles begin. Stress, despair, anxiety, loneliness, fear, and jealousy are all negative emotions that you fight with mentally.

Evil desires at war within

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?” (James 4:1)

“I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.” (Rom. 7:22-23)

“The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” (Gal. 5:17 NLT)

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:14)

You have the Holy Spirit to help you!

As a follower of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is a part of your new self and there to help you. Satan cannot take control of your thoughts, but he can still make suggestions. The only power he possesses over a believer is the ability to implant ideas in their heads. He has the ability to grab your attention, which is a huge deal. Why? Because you become whatever captures your thoughts, what you think about and dwell on (Prov. 23:7). You must choose whether to accept or reject his suggestion once it has entered your thoughts. Your attitude and actions reflect all that is currently going on in your brain. Ask God’s for guidance to help you choose healthy over destructive, right over wrong, and God’s truth over the enemy’s falsehoods. Through the Holy Spirit, He is prepared to give you the strength you need!

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Cor. 19:5)

Therefore

“Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.” (1 Pet. 2:11)