Spirit of your mind.
Did you know that your mind has a spirit? Paul writes in Ephesians 4:23. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
What does Paul mean by: “the spirit of your mind.”
You might be more familiar with the word “conscience.” We all have a conscience whether we acknowledge it or not. So what is our conscience? It is that inner voice directing us and guiding us.
Rom 8:14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Is it possible that your conscience can be the voice of the Spirit speaking to you? We all know what we think about certain things, but sometimes we are confronted by our conscience in spite of what we are thinking.
As an example, there is a $100.00 bill lying on a table. You think: If I take it, this might help me with putting gas in my car. At the same time, your conscience is saying: Do not take it because it does not belong to you.
Your conscience is the spirit of your mind. Your conscience is connected to your heart. Your heart or the Spirit will speak to you in spite of what you are thinking.
In John chapter 8 we see a woman brought to Jesus because she was caught committing adultery. They were ready to stone her for her trespass. These men brought her to Jesus, driven by their training in the law of God. The problem was that they ignored the voice of their conscience trying to convict them of their sin, while eagerly wanting to kill someone else for their sin. Jesus had to ask them a question so that they would pay attention to the spirit of their minds.
“He that is without sin, cast the first stone!”
John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
The word “Conscience” literally means Co-perception.
The challenge Jesus gave them was simply: See it from my perception.!!!!!
The only way to see it from Gods perception is to listen to the Spirit of God.
John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin.
We all can have our conscience influenced by good or bad, by God or the enemy. Who is influencing your conviction? When I listen to peoples arguments, I am amazed at what I perceive behind their convictions. They don’t even know what the enemy is doing with them. Remember that Solomon said: As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. You can never be different than your conviction. You can be different if you allow God to change your perception and allow the spirit of your mind to be renewed.
Paul states that his conscience is bearing witness to him. When you do something, your conscience will speak to you. You have a choice of how you respond to your conscience. Some people ignore the inner voice and by doing so they stifle the spirit of their mind. Paul clearly states in 1 Thess 5:19 – Do not quench the Spirit. Others give heed to that inner voice and learn to grow in their walk with God. When we keep our walk pure, we keep our conscience pure.
Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
If we refuse to listen to the voice of the Spirit(your pure conscience), we will listen to the voice of the enemy(your defiled conscience).
The enemy tactics are to get you to give him a place and a voice in your life. We all struggled with this before we surrendered our lives. We had an evil conscience. Our hearts and thoughts were only bent towards sin and satisfying our flesh. We gave too much place to the devil.
There is a way to clean your conscience. You have to renew your mind and allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse your conscience. You must allow the Spirit’s voice to be louder than the enemies voice in your life.
Finally, we can have a clear and pure conscience.
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Paul tells us to renew our mind so that we can know God’s perfectly good and acceptable will. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through your conscience. He will never lead you astray or away from what pleases God.