Memories

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

Recently I was reading Philippians 2:5-8, it triggered a memory that didn’t have to do with the passage itself but a certain time in my life. It is a passage that we were using when I was home schooling our son. It was one of the verses he was memorizing and I can recall helping Brian say this over and over again until he had it memorized. Memories are funny things – certain words, phrases, sights, smells and sounds can trigger them and bring them back like they just happened.

But not all memories are good ones.

Our memories and our minds can be powerful tools, for good or for evil! All of us have unwanted memories from childhood, relationship wounds, or other life events that are triggered by different thing, such as smells, sights, sounds, or even words used by others. They bring back things we don’t want to remember.

But we can start to rewire some of those memories through the Word of God. It’s when we try to fight them in our own strength that we will fail. Remember that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness he didn’t fight it on his own. Jesus, the Son of God, who could have called down angels on his behalf to fight for him, chose instead to quote the Word to Satan to resist his temptation. In Luke 4, over and over when Jesus was responding to Satan He started with the words “It is written…” and then used scripture to speak words of victory to rebuff the tempter. That should be our example. If Jesus recognized that the most powerful weapon against the enemy was Scripture, then that is the example for us to follow!

In the same way when bad memories or thoughts come into our minds they are a form of temptation the enemy wants to use to lead our minds down unhealthy paths. Rather than go down those paths and relive memories and thoughts that aren’t healthy, we can use Scripture to help replace or overcome those thoughts. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

What does Paul mean to have our mind renewed? The Greek word here for renew is anakaínōsis, which is defined to mean “a renovation” (Strong’s Dictionary), or “a renewal, a renovation, or a complete change for the better” (Thayers Dictionary) which gives you the general idea.

If you’ve ever been involved in any home renovation, it isn’t pretty when things are being renovated, but when it’s done it’s always amazing. But you need to be patient in the renovation stage, and sometimes it takes longer than we want it to. That means that depending on how deep the memory or thought you are seeking to renew isn’t going to be a one and done situation – you don’t just read a verse and “poof’” things change – generally speaking it is a process of being more aware when unhealthy thoughts and memories arise and then making a conscious decision to speak the Word over them to help you replace it with a new healthy God thought. For some thoughts it can be a a long journey to combat them, but the alternative of allowing them free reign in your mind is not the life God has for us!

There will be specific verses that will apply to whatever thoughts and memories you want to replace, and that is where we all need to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to those verses. I started earlier this year with a plan to memorize verses so that I can build a library of tools and weapons to use against unhealthy thoughts and memories. In this age of digital information searching for verses to use has become incredibly easy to research verses to use, but it takes away the strength that comes from memorizng a verse so it can be deep wired into your brain. What I’ve found is that when I’m memorizing a particular verse, if I read the chapters around that verse and learn the context of the verse it helps the verse come alive. Then when I speak that verse it has such a deeper meaning for me. Take the time to really learn what that verse means and what God wants it to mean for you in your life.

My journey is teaching me to ask the Holy Spirit to help me to become more aware of unhealthy thoughts and memories that come into my mind that I unconsciously allow to stay.

If an uninvited and unwelcome guest walked into your house would you invite them to sit down and have a cup of coffee with you, or would you ask them to leave? Why do we then allow unhealthy thoughts to come in and dine with our minds, rather than asking them to leave? If they are memories or thought patterns that go deep into our minds you may have to ask them to leave on a repeated basis until your mind is then wired to not let them in.

It’s a process , not an instant cure.

But relying on the Word, rather than our own strength is what will help us get rid of those unwanted visitors!