Do you have great conversations in the shower? Please, tell me I’m not alone here. I don’t know if it’s the warm water loosening my brain, but the best convos with myself happen there.
My epiphany transpired in the middle of lather, rinse, repeat. While considering my dry, dull hair and calling on the hormone fairy to swoop in, balance my estrogen and return my shiny locks, I was enlightened. The thought trickled in as though it was there all along, waiting to get my attention.
“You don’t need to lather twice.”
Deep, theological stuff, right? But it’s those “Oh duh” moments that often reveal the power of our minds.
Our brains are full of conditioned mindsets. Good and bad. Countless habits, attitudes, and perspectives live there and dictate our behaviors. Good and bad. Many are there since childhood, often handed down from family members.
Like the one that tells a young woman to cut the ends off a pot roast. She did it because her momma did it. Her momma did it because her momma did it. So, they ask gramma. The secret to the perfect pot roast? “My pan was too small. I cut the ends off the roast so it would fit.
But what about those mindsets that aren’t as harmless as shampoo and pot roast?
What about the ones that tell us we’re stupid, ugly, we’ll never measure up? Or those that say we are better, smarter, more valuable than others? They slither in and lie about who God is and who we are created to be, our true self. We have an enemy, my friend. Evil wants to rob us of our God-given identity.
Our minds really are battlefields where we live or die, spiritually and emotionally. That’s why Paul tells us in Romans to be transformed by changing or renewing our minds. And in 2 Corinthians, he reminds us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
We compare our thoughts and attitudes to the truth of who God is and who He says we are. Knowing Him and ourselves,
We are free to resist the lies and grow into our divine design.
For 43 years, I lathered twice. That’s the way my mom taught me. It was the right way to wash an eight-year-old tomboy’s long hair. For three generations, women cut the ends off their pot roasts because “mom did it.” Until one day, we all stopped and asked why.
Yes, unhealthy mindsets die hard. But they do die. The next few weeks, we’ll look at lies about God and ourselves. We’ll step further into living abundant life in our God-given identity. Please join me on the journey.
Peace, my friend.
(c) Robin Melvin 2015
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