The Christian life consists of setting my heart and mind on Christ (1,2) rather than things that belong to the earthly nature (4,8,9). My battle starts and consists first and foremost in my mind. The battle in my mind is solely fought against me, that is my thoughts.
I can control my thoughts. All the thoughts I engage in are mine and under my control. The Spirit protects my mind from the Devil. That is Satan cannot telepathically plant thoughts in my head as some misinformed Christians believe. Since my mind is mine to control, as Paul wrote, I am to “set my mind on things above” (2).
But how do I stop thinking about the things that belong to my earthly nature? The key is in verse 9, “old self practices”. Practice makes perfect. I need to start new practices and start new mental habits. This takes effort over time, little by little advances. Memorizing encouraging verses, prayer, singing, and mentally forcing myself to get out of bad mental thought patterns and get into new ones.
