Many phones have added a feature somewhat recently that I have found\u00a0both intriguing and convicting: Screen Time.<\/p>\n
At a glance, you can see how much time you have spent on your\u00a0phone\u00a0on a\u00a0given day\u00a0or week\u00a0(and\u00a0on\u00a0which apps you have spent your time). It even allows you to set various limits\u00a0on your screen time\u00a0or dictate\u00a0how much time you\u00a0are allowed to\u00a0be on a particular app.\u00a0My wife has taken full advantage of this feature, setting limits to certain apps and\u00a0increasing the discipline of her phone use\u00a0(I have yet to reach that level of sanctification myself). And I hope we can all agree\u2014a\u00a0smartphone can\u00a0either\u00a0be an incredible tool used for good, or a\u00a0Hebrews 12:1 weight that so easily entangles.<\/p>\n
The same applies to our minds and what we are thinking; our minds can dwell on that which is good or evil.\u00a0This is quite important\u2014as\u00a0Proverbs 23:7 puts it, \u201cfor as he thinks within himself, so he is.\u201d\u00a0Thoughts dictate actions. They are the fuel propelling the engine.<\/p>\n
Did you know\u00a0that\u00a0the Lord gave us\u00a0our own Screen Time app,\u00a0something that indicates what we have spent our time thinking about? If you want to know what you have been\u00a0dwelling<\/em>\u00a0on, look no further than what you have been spending your time\u00a0doing<\/em>.\u00a0And the mind differs from a phone in this profound way\u2014you\u00a0can never turn it off.<\/p>\n Full disclosure: one of my\u00a0sin\u00a0struggles is\u00a0anger.\u00a0If you ask my parents or siblings, it\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0a struggle of mine\u00a0since basically the womb.\u00a0While it may have\u00a0been\u00a0a source of entertainment for two older brothers (cue the story where they told my sister to hold me down while they attempted to cut my hair\u00a0with scissors\u2026), it is something I need\u00a0the grace of Christ for daily and\u00a0it\u00a0is\u00a0an internal battle\u00a0that requires\u00a0continual diligence.<\/p>\n This fight\u00a0is either offensive, defensive, or\u00a0lost altogether. Let me show you what\u00a0this\u00a0looks like in my life:<\/p>\n Offensive<\/u>: I am aware of the fight and using Scripture to\u00a0actively dwell on that\u00a0which I ought to.<\/p>\n Defensive<\/u>: This typically takes two forms:<\/p>\n Lost<\/u>:\u00a0Honestly, it typically looks like this: I\u2019m angry, I\u2019m well aware of my thoughts of entitlement, I know what the Lord has to say about it, but I just don\u2019t care.\u00a0I have convinced myself that I am justified in my anger\u00a0and my flesh has won the battle.\u00a0Eventually, the Spirit convicts me and leads me to repentance. Back to square one.<\/p>\n Quick caveat before we move\u00a0on\u2026as I mentioned in passing, the grace of Christ is necessary in all of this. Philippians 2:12-13\u00a0calls\u00a0you\u00a0to\u00a0\u201cwork out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.\u201d While\u00a0the fight is very real and I will be held accountable for the result, God is the one at work in me.<\/p>\n Now let\u2019s talk\u00a0Screen Time. How does\u00a0Scripture call us to take an inventory of our thoughts, and what are we do dwell\u00a0on?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say\u00a0someone\u00a0walks\u00a0up to you and says, \u201cI\u2019m going to\u00a0take you captive\u201d\u2014would\u00a0that be an easy thing for them to do? Would you not put up the fight of your life to avoid captivity?<\/p>\n Well, thoughts are the same way. They love their freedom as much as the next\u00a0gun-toting\u00a0American\u00a0and\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0more than a little\u00a0reluctant to give themselves up. That\u2019s why the Bible\u00a0speaks rather strongly on the matter:<\/p>\n \u2026we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience\u2026<\/em>\u00a0(2 Corinthians 10:5-6\u00a0).<\/p>\n The word used for\u00a0\u201ctaking captive\u201d\u00a0is\u00a0\u03b1\u1f30\u03c7\u03bc\u03b1\u03bb\u03c9\u03c4\u03af\u03b6\u03c9<\/strong>\u00a0(aik-malow-tizow), and it has military connotations (\u201cto cause someone to become a prisoner of war,\u201d or to \u201cgain control of\u201d,\u00a0BDAG, p. 31).\u00a0The word used for \u201cpunish\u201d is not much\u00a0kinder. But the strong language is very deliberate\u2014it\u2019s\u00a0kill or be killed in the battle of the mind.<\/p>\n The\u00a0reader of\u00a0this strong language will generally fall into two camps:\u00a01) those who couldn\u2019t agree more with\u00a0how powerfully it\u2019s worded\u00a0(you know the fight all too well), and 2) those who\u00a0find it a bit excessive. If you fall into the second category,\u00a0there is no possible way you are actively engaged in the battle for your mind. Don\u2019t believe me? Let\u2019s look at your Screen Time\u2026<\/p>\n My wife, along with being a\u00a0woman of strong conviction (I mean, look at her phone habits for Pete\u2019s sake), is also a gifted discipler. She knows the Word of God well\u00a0and is not shy about\u00a0applying it (2 Timothy\u00a03:16-17).\u00a0While she did not disclose who this gal was\u00a0(let\u2019s call her\u00a0Jill, for both our sakes), she was working with someone\u00a0struggling to fight the battle of the mind.<\/p>\n She\u00a0had Jill set an alarm on her phone to go off every 10 minutes. When the alarm went off,\u00a0it would remind Jill, \u201cwhat am I thinking about right now, and what have I been thinking about\u00a0for\u00a0the past 10 minutes?\u201d\u00a0Talk about Screen Time accountability\u2026\u00a0Eventually, Jill built a habit to engage in the\u00a0fight<\/em>. She\u00a0woke up on the battlefield and began\u00a0abducting some thoughts.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s say you, like Jill, have successfully wrestled a thought to the ground. What then? After all, you\u2019re not a dog chasing a car; how do you know what thoughts to encourage<\/em>\u00a0and what thoughts to\u00a0punish<\/em>?<\/p>\n Once you have\u00a0a solid grip on\u00a0this thought, God\u2019s Word, in its\u00a0beautiful cohesion, gives us a line of questioning to see if we are dealing with\u00a0friend or foe:<\/p>\n \u2026whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things\u00a0<\/em>(Philippians 4:8).<\/p>\n It could not be\u00a0simpler: \u201cthink about\u00a0these<\/em>\u00a0things.\u201d<\/p>\n Take that thought and ask, \u201cIs\u00a0what\u00a0I am thinking\u00a0true<\/u>?\u201d\u00a0If the answer is\u00a0\u201cyes,\u201d move on to the next question. Is it honorable? Just? Pure? Lovely? Commendable? Excellent? Worthy of praise?<\/p>\n If it can\u00a0answer to the positive\u00a0through the\u00a0intense interrogation, that thought is to be encouraged.<\/p>\n But if the answer is\u00a0\u201cno\u201d\u00a0to\u00a0any<\/em>\u00a0of the\u00a0criteria, the solution is punishment. Christian\u00a0friend, where\u00a0is\u00a0punishment\u00a0enacted?\u00a0The same place all your other wicked thoughts, words, and deeds have\u00a0gone\u2014to\u00a0the\u00a0cross<\/em>.\u00a0Confess\u00a0to your\u00a0merciful Savior regarding this thought, repent\u00a0(for me, that could look like, \u201cLord, please forgive me for\u00a0believing the lie (notice, my entitled thoughts fail at the first\u00a0criteria)\u00a0that I deserve to be\u00a0obeyed because of who I am\u2014You\u00a0alone\u00a0are worthy of utmost obedience\u2014please\u00a0forgive me\u201d), and\u00a0set your mind on that\u00a0to\u00a0which our Creator calls you. And you might have guessed it,\u00a0He told us what that is in His Word\u2026<\/p>\n Why did Jesus never succumb to temptation? I kind of gave it away in the\u00a0heading: He was always playing offense. Jesus\u00a0continually had His mind set in a manner\u00a0that Scripture calls us to:<\/p>\n Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God\u00a0<\/em>(Colossians 3:2-3).<\/p>\n Why was He untouchable in the wilderness when Satan was tempting Him? He was dwelling on the Word of God (Deuteronomy, apparently).\u00a0Why was He not\u00a0drawn away by sinful lusts, like the woman at the well or\u00a0the disciples that accompanied Him? He was thinking about the will of His Father (John 4:34). Why was\u00a0mockery and torture met with\u00a0mercy and forgiveness\u00a0in His final hours? He was\u00a0dwelling on\u00a0the\u00a0plan of salvation that was mapped out before\u00a0the foundation of the world (Matthew 27:46,\u00a0Psalm 22,\u00a0Ephesians 1:4).<\/p>\n When was the last time you\u00a0checked your Screen Time? Maybe you have gotten lazy in the fight\u00a0and rarely take any thoughts captive\u00a0(let alone taking\u00a0every<\/em>\u00a0thought captive). You may need to\u00a0take proactive measures like our friend Jill and set 10-minute reminders\u00a0for yourself.\u00a0Much like the function of Screen Time, you may need to take some of those thoughts and limit the amount of time you think about\u00a0a given thing. There\u00a0will also be a\u00a0lot of apps (I mean, thoughts) you will need to delete altogether\u00a0if they do\u00a0not make the cut\u00a0(Philippians 4:8).<\/p>\n But above all else,\u00a0\u201cset your mind on things above\u201d (Colossians 3:2-4).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Myself as the Example<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Our Work, His Work<\/h2>\n
The Fight<\/h2>\n
A Quick Aside<\/h2>\n
Back\u00a0to\u00a0It<\/h2>\n
The Test<\/h2>\n
Punishment<\/h2>\n
Always Playing Offense<\/h2>\n
Screen Time<\/h2>\n