IMO: You Can Fix Yourself - Thursday
Romans 8:6
So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. (NLT)
While most people would probably claim this about themselves, I’d say I’m a pretty decent driver. I do, however, tend to get a wee bit nervous on those narrow, curvy roads that run alongside steep ravines, especially when it’s unfamiliar territory. But a few years ago, someone shared a driving trick with me that I wish I’d learned much sooner. They said, “Keep your eyes on where you want the car to go, not where you don’t want it to go. You’ll always go where your eyes are.” So I started experimenting with that theory, and turns out, it’s true! When I’m looking at what I want to avoid, whether it’s a ravine or another car, I somehow still end up a little too close to it, and my braking and turning get jerky. But when I keep my gaze fixed a bit ahead of me, in the very center of my lane, I stay perfectly on the path, moving as smooth as butter.
I think this is a bit like what walking with the Spirit looks like. We’ve talked all week about how we can’t fix ourselves and overcome our sin struggles on our own, but scripture also makes it clear that we still have a part to play. “Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (Romans 8:6). We have a choice to make—every hour, every day: Who gets to control my mind? And that depends on where we’re looking.
Colossians 3:2 tells us, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” While we might think we need to focus on not messing up, we actually set ourselves up for failure when our minds are on what we’re trying to avoid—sin. So we must set our minds on things above—“on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable… things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8).
When our gaze is fixed on where we want to go—the path of life, peace, and all things truly good, where we’ll become less like the world and more like Jesus—that’s where we’ll always end up.
Thursday’s Reflection
What consumes your mind? Make it a goal this week to spend 30 more minutes each day filling your mind with truth—through God’s Word, worship music, sermon podcasts, etc. And if you’re not already in scripture every day, start there!
