When was the last time you put on a smiley face and were courteous to a person you really were angry with and did not trust? Which expression was the real you? It is a form of double-minded thinking. I recently encountered a God-fearing person who was very distraught because, after too much introspection, he was no longer sure he really loved God. He questioned his true identity. Have you ever questioned who you really are?
When a person has been ‘born again’, according to Ezekiel 36:25-27, he becomes a new creation with new desires or convictions deep within. Although the mind and emotions are involved, this is not merely a decision of the mind or emotions. It is much deeper than that. It is a conviction of the spirit that influences the mind but does not control it. I tried to explain to the individual I encountered that since God’s faith is placed deep within our spirit, our defense against such mental or emotional doubts is to refocus our attention on what our innermost being is telling us. In such cases, we have opposing thoughts going on at the same time. If we trust in our mind to defend us against doubts or temptations, it will only last until the next mental or emotional runaway. In times of distress, we MUST look much deeper within for the conviction that alone can empower us to think correctly with our mind.
The Bible character Solomon wrote this frequently used verse in its shorter form. Proverbs 23:7 NKJV For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, he says to you, but his heart is not with you. The context of the verse paints an interesting word picture. A miserly person is saying at a banquet to guests, “eat and drink” while his/her heart has contradictory feelings about them eating and drinking food she/he spent money to purchase and prepare.
When the Bible refers to thinking in the heart, the heart essentially describes what arises, not from the head but from the chest area. It would be like a person thinking they love a person when their feeling is only coming from their bodily hormones or lust for potential money or privilege.
I wonder if such double-minded thinking doesn’t occasionally happen at wedding dinners or a celebration of some sort. Wherever it occurs, we MUST remember, Solomon did not say whatever a man ‘thinks’, he is, but whatever a man thinks in his heart is his true identity—the real you. This alone will be your solid anchor in the face of temptation or spiritual warfare.
This same concept is true when our mind deceives us. Saul, who later became Paul, thought he was being zealous for God by abusing the Christians. After his encounter with God on the road to Damascus, he discovered his self-deception. The real Saul was misguided in his faith. James wrote about a person who also thinks he is religious. James 1:26 NLT If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.
I place great value on my mind or emotions God has given me. However, I must remind myself all too often that my mind and emotions are unstable, therefore untrustworthy in stormy times. My only solid anchor is what He planted in my heart or spirit when I was regenerated. I’ve found stability by distinguishing the difference between thoughts in my head and those from deep within. Are you living out the real you or living the imaginary identity you have conjured up in your mind?