My walk with the Lord was forever changed when I learned to present my mind to Him.

Memories and regrets would haunt me—especially from around the time that I tore my ACL, searched for my identity in places that were so temporary, and found myself metaphorically in a dark cave with no way out. While I may have seemed OK from the outside, the Enemy attacked my mind and I would experience darkness, shaking, guilt, and worthlessness. If you know my story, you know that it was Jesus who led me out of this darkness.

However, it wasn’t an overnight transformation. People had told me that when I became a Christian, things would not get easier but harder. As I fought for the Kingdom of Heaven, the Ruler of Darkness would fight against me. I would always win the battle in the Name of Jesus, but it would be a continuous cylce.

A year and a half ago, thanks to Beth Moore’s talk at the Passion Conference in Atlanta, I realized that not only did I need to give my heart to God, but my mind as well. Here are some of the key points I learned:

• Renewing the mind doesn’t mean forgetting what’s in the past, it’s thinking new thoughts about the past
• I can open my mind to scriptures
• I can love God with my mind
• The act of repentance literally means “change of mind.”

I came to the realization that I can’t just stop thinking about what has happened in my past, but thinking differently about these thoughts is something I can do.

A few monts later, a mentor pointed out to me I don’t have to just be OK with these attacks of darkness, and that I should pray that they would be taken away every single day until they were. It was a best friend that encouraged me to fight back with Scripture.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

This was my journey, and God did what was impossible for man to do. I no longer experience the attacks of darkness from my past that I once did. I presented my mind to the Lord, and He transformed it.

Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (KJB).

We are not simply called to have a renewed mind, but to have the exact mind of Christ, and this will then control our actions.

Here is a bit of wisdom that I gathered today thanks to author Debbie Pearl: We are the way we think. We act the way we think. We can let God control the way we think, by making our thoughts obedient to Him, and having the mind of Christ. Then, we will act in ways that are glorifying to Him.

If I think a work out is going to be tough and for the entire work out, in my mind, I think about how hard it is, that it’s too hard, and that I can’t do it, my natural action will be to give up. But if I think positively about the task ahead, it goes by faster, it seems easier, I am able to encourage my teammates, and I feel better about myself when the workout is completed.

Remember that the definition of repentance is “change of mind.” I have come up with, based on the wisdom of scripture and other people, a three-step cycle to repentance:

1. Give your mind to God, by Scripture and prayer.
2. Your mind, that controls your thoughts, controls your actions.
3. You act in ways that are glorifying to God.

How might God be calling you to “repent” today? To change your mind? To make a thought obedient to Him?

See also: Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:23, Colossians 3:2