Satan knows the place where God’s word is supposed to be planted and decides to plant bad seeds in it, but he doesn’t plant them himself, he tricks you into doing it. This is how.
1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Why use that language? What is the Bible saying when it instructs us to “gird up the loins of our mind”?
Physically, the loins refer to the reproductive organs of men and women. Spiritually speaking, the loins are where reproductive and creative power resides. The loins refer to the heart and mind of man, where thoughts and beliefs produce the fruit of words that shape our future.
The Bible emphasizes the importance of controlling our words; the only way we can do that is to guard our hearts and minds from evil influence.
Proverbs 4:23-24 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you.
What we allow in our mind shapes our thoughts and what we continually think about influences our actions.
The only thing that can defile a Christian is what comes out of him in words or actions.
Matthew 15:16-20 So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
We must not underestimate the creative and destructive power our tongues wield. Proverbs 18:21. says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. In fact, the Bible is replete with instructions about the use of words and the power of the tongue. Here are just a few.
- Proverbs 12:18 “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise promotes health.” - Proverbs 15:4 “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life,
But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” - Proverbs 13:3 “He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.” - Matthew 12:36-37 “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
- Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
The words we choose and our delivery when communicating with others speak volumes about our personal convictions.
We must control what goes into our minds to keep our words and actions from defiling us. The only way we can control what comes out of us is to control what goes into us. The devil knows this so he attacks us in our minds with his vile seed to corrupt and defile any good harvest we have.
We are in a spiritual war against supernatural beings that are committed to our destruction. They attack us in our minds because they understand that we are good soil. They know anything going into our minds has the potential to reproduce causing us to be transformed into Christlikeness or causing us to defile ourselves.
Most importantly they know the power of God’s word planted in a believer’s heart. They do everything they can to keep us from God’s word, fill us with wrong doctrine, steal our confidence, make us feel unworthy, and keep us from having an intimate relationship with the Father. Satan will use every trick in his arsenal to keep you from developing a love for God’s word. If he can keep you from God’s word, he can keep you from becoming like Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Every seed produces after its own kind and every thought eventually produces the offspring of words if those thoughts are not taken captive to the obedience of Christ. What we allow to be sown into our hearts and minds is a huge deal. If we are not selective about what we watch, read, and hear, we can easily be confused about our identity in Christ.
This brings us back to our original question, what does it mean to “gird up the loins of our mind”?
Think of girders that provide primary structural support on a bridge or building. Ephesians tells us to put on the whole armor of God and part of that armor is having our loins girt about with truth.
Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.
Just like girders that provide strength and stability to a physical structure, God’s word provides strength and stability to the character of Christ being formed within us.
We are God’s house, God’s building, individually and corporately.
The truth of God’s word renews and transforms our minds. Truth strengthens and supports our thoughts and beliefs about God and ourselves. The power and purity of truth cleanses us from iniquity and enables us to take our thoughts captive. Truth sets us free.
The enemy works frantically, desperately trying to keep the truth from being sown into our hearts and minds. If he can’t keep us from that, his only other alternative is to trick us into sowing bad seeds, half-truths, false doctrines, and doctrines of devils into our own hearts and minds. For him to do that, he must first get us desensitized to sin and comfortable with compromise. The entertainment industry is one way he accomplishes this.
Let’s say you go to church, any church, any denomination, and throughout the service the pastor or priest uses the Lord’s name in vain and other vulgarity, makes sexually inappropriate remarks, and normalizes homosexual and transgender behavior. Would it shock you? Would you ever go back for another service? Would you report that behavior to the appropriate leadership? How would that make you feel?
Most of us would get a little bent out of shape about that kind of behavior. Why is this different from watching R-rated movies in our living room? Why the double standard? Because the entertainment industry has desensitized us to sin and its effects making us comfortable with compromise.
It’s hard to keep our minds renewed when we are constantly viewing sin, listening to sin, and allowing those seeds to be sown into our souls. This type of compromise lends itself to doublemindedness and an unstable walk with the Lord. It opens the door to greater deception, confusing us about our identity, and relinquishing our kingdom authority.
The entertainment industry is the largest “church” in the world. People flock daily to immerse themselves in fantasy and distract them from reality.
Would you sit with Christ in your home watching movies where people practice lawlessness? Would you be comfortable watching scenes of adultery, fornication, profanity, and taking God’s name in vain? What about the music you listen to or the novel you are reading? Would you be comfortable watching and listening to those things with Christ sitting beside you?
Are you not aware that Christ is in you?
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