Mind Control

By Joe Slater       Unscrupulous characters in many walks of life, including religion, seek to control other people’s minds. Their tactics include manipulation, brainwashing, and coercion. We ought to reject any and all efforts by other people to control our minds.     God’s word teaches that we control our own minds. The fact that He tells us to renew our minds and set our minds on specific things shows that not even God Himself overrides our free will.     Why would we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (as per Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:23)? Why would Colossians 3:1-2 exhort us to set our minds on things that are above? God’s word provides the answer from several angles.     Before we knew Jesus, we were “alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works” (Colossians 1:21). Hostility toward God begins in the mind! Only by renewal of the mind can we be reconciled to Him.     When people reject knowing God, the Lord “(gives) them over to a debased (unapproved) mind” (Romans 1:28). Because they don’t approve Him, He doesn’t approve them! The mind must be renewed before God will accept them.     Enemies of God, not wishing to know Him, naturally have “corrupt minds” (1 Timothy 6:5). Titus 1:5 makes the same point speaking of both mind and conscience being “defiled.” Such minds focus not on things above, but earthly, carnal matters. Unless the mind is renewed and refocused, eternal destruction surely awaits!     Who controls your mind? Do you need to renew your mind?

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com