In the post Got Peace? How to be less anxious (part 1) I talked about the vivid vision God gave me when I cried out to him in a time of depression. I touched on the importance of being intentional to change your way of thinking so that it matches the word of God instead of the world’s way of thinking.

When I was younger, I was angry and confused because even though I was a Christian, I was missing the peace that the Bible promised.

What I had to learn was the importance of renewing my mind. Renewing our minds is how we partner with God to walk in peace and wholeness. We can’t focus on the things of the world, live, think and speak like everyone in our culture and expect to be free from angst, pain, anger, worry and depression. Every day, I would go so far as to say every thought, we either choose life or choose death.

In this culture we are not taught the importance of controlling our thoughts which is one of the big reasons so many people struggle with depression and anxiety. Thoughts lead to emotions, which lead to actions, which lead to the paths our lives take. One of the most important keys to living a good life is found in the following verse:

Romans 12:2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing, and perfect will (NIV).

Our minds are inundated with information throughout the day. If we don’t learn to be intentional about our thoughts and attitudes, then the world will form them for us. Renewing your mind means agreeing and aligning your thoughts with God’s thoughts. How do we know God’s thoughts? Through The Bible, sound biblical teaching, and intentional time spent in quietness with Him. Aligning your thoughts with God’s takes lots of intentionality. The word of God says to take every thought captive. We think thousands of thoughts a day! But I am learning that as I’m consistent and intentional, it gets easier to renew my mind. As I constantly put His word in my mind, thinking “God’s way” starts to become my normal. When thinking God’s way starts to become your normal, that is when you start to walk in peace!! That is when circumstances can come against you but not negatively affect you because you are looking at Jesus instead of the waves. Renewing your mind is Christianity 101 and the starting point for walking in victory.

Learn what the Bible promises and teaches and start aligning your thoughts with it. The word of God is truth. And truth has nothing to do with feelings. If Jesus is truly Lord of my life, then my feelings or opinions at any given moment are irrelevant if they are opposite of what he says. Because I’m a follower of Christ, then I choose forgiveness when I want to nurse anger and get revenge. I choose to believe God is my healer when sickness tries to come against me. I choose to believe I am created for a purpose and am treasured when I don’t feel loved. I choose to count my blessings when self-pity is beckoning.

A dear friend of mine used to struggle with depression and like many today, was on medication for it. God gave her a vision one day that was the catalyst to her freedom. In this picture God showed her, she was standing at the bottom of a stairwell with a cavern of darkness all around her. High above was a doorway full of light which shone down the stairs. The message God was giving her was that each step represented the thoughts that came from depression. In that moment she realized she had agreed with each of those thoughts, and that had taken her lower and deeper into the abyss. But God also showed her that just as she had walked down, she could decide to walk back up into the light, but it was her decision to make. It was as if he was saying, “One step at a time got you down here. One step at a time can take you up. Every thought is a choice and a step.”

Depression didn’t immediately leave her that day, but she learned to be more intentional about catching her thoughts and choosing not to agree with depression. Over time, she began to walk in more and more freedom and after several years was completely delivered and off all medication.

It would be wonderful if the moment we are saved, the way we think automatically changes. But God talks about the importance of renewing our minds for a reason. It’s an intentional process.

It can be hard to take every thought captive at first. A huge part of the process is being discerning about what you watch and listen to. Music, movies, friends, dates, social media, etc. need to be submitted to God. If he wants something out of your life, it’s for your good. The more you know him, the more you learn he wants the best for you. How much do you truly want peace? Don’t sow things that aren’t peaceful into your heart if you want to have peace! Just like the ground, your heart grows what you put in it!

And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8 NLT).

Emotions are an excellent help as indicators. Since I’m learning to be discerning in what I watch, listen to, and think, I’m generally very joyful and peaceful. However, if I start feeling anxious, or fearful, or angry, or depressed, that is a red flag for me to stop and think, “Wait, what have I been thinking about? And where are my thoughts not aligning with God’s?” Below are some examples of the process I walk through. In my head it’s obviously happening spontaneously. But sometimes, I do need to journal things out as well if the thoughts that I need to capture/renew aren’t immediately obvious.

• Anxious/worried feeling — interrupt and analyze my thoughts — usually means I’m not trusting God in some area — meditate on the scriptures that apply to the situation — choose to believe God’s truth over the lie that was making me anxious. He is my provider, healer, comforter, etc. Stop the worrisome thoughts and replace them with God’s provision.

• Anger/offended feeling —interrupt and analyze my thoughts — stop rehearsing what the person said or did that was hurtful/disrespectful. Instead, every time those angry feelings come up say out loud, “God, I forgive as you have forgiven me. I forgive because you want me to be free and I love you more than “my right” to be angry. Thank you that you died for this person. Help me to see through your eyes.” (Ok, so this one, at least for me, is the most challenging. If I’m extremely hurt or angry, God knows I’ve been known to start off saying, “God, help me forgive this a-hole!!” Just being real. Forgiveness can take time. Trust that as you continually submit these thoughts and emotions to Him, He will bring healing. And if it’s a deep trauma and you need help, ask God to lead you through whatever process you need. But it will always involve forgiveness.

• Sad/depressed feeling — interrupt and analyze my thoughts (also, what have I been letting into my heart through what I listen to or watch?) — Usually means I’m believing a lie somewhere about myself, others, or a situation. — Ask the Lord to show me what the lie is. — Do I believe a certain situation is impossible or will never change? Then I’m not trusting Him. — Find out what God says about the situation and replace the lies I was believing with His truth.

Just because a thought FEELS true, doesn’t mean you have to claim it as true. Just because you have a thought that has an emotion attached to it, doesn’t mean you have to claim it as your own. This is pretty freeing news. It means we can take control of thoughts, which leads to taking control of our emotions, which leads to taking control of our lives. It means, that the way that other people behave or treat us, doesn’t have to have power over us. If we can learn to walk in peace and love in an angry offended world, then we are free. If we can learn to recognize when the enemy tries to get us to believe we are unloved or lacking, and we replace his lies with God’s truth that we are planned-for and passionately loved, then we are free. Step by step, choose to agree with God’s truths until you are walking in perfect peace.

Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life (NLT).

Note: Caroline Leaf is a Christian neuroscientist and mental health expert who may be helpful if you are interested in learning more. She has lots of resources if you look her up online. I don’t get paid for mentioning her and only do so in case her resources help someone. :o)

How-to summary:

• Renewing our minds is how we partner with God to walk in peace. Guard what you are letting into your mind through outside sources (movies/entertainment, music, social media, books/poetry/lyrics, friends etc.) If it doesn’t bring peace, don’t invite it into your mind.
• Put God’s Word in your heart. Put a list together of scriptures talking about how loved you are and who you are in Christ (healed, forgiven, loved, free). Google searches make finding topic scriptures easy and there are also online concordances. Meditate on them often. If a thought comes to you saying you are not these things, recognize it as a lie and replace it with God’s truth.
• Ask God to help you replace any lies you are believing from the enemy. How to replace lies with truth is a great resource.
• Use emotions as indicators. If you feel anxious, sad, worried, ask yourself: What thoughts lead to these emotions? Where are my thoughts not lining up with what God says about me or about this situation? Align your thoughts with God’s word.
• Be intentional and consistent to cast each thought down and replace it with what God says. Remember just because a thought FEELS true, or even if it has emotion attached to it, does not mean you have to own it or agree with it.
• Consistency is key. As you weed through and replace thoughts, your brain forms new patterns, and you start to walk in peace.