Three Things To Protect (The Mind, The Heart, And The Mouth)

YOUR MIND. The devil loves to put thoughts into your mind. You can be born-again and heaven-bound, but if you have wrong thoughts, your effectiveness on earth is greatly diminished. We must war against thoughts that don’t agree with the truth. Analyze your thoughts. Just say to yourself, “Hey, thoughts! Where did you come from?” If it’s a thought of pride, fear, unbelief, lust depression, or condemnation, it needs to be cast down. That’s something you have to do. Refuse to dwell on it. Turn your mind to God and make it agree with His Word. (2 Cor. 10:3-5)

YOUR HEART. In this case, your “heart” means your attitudes and emotions. Wrong attitudes are killers. In Ephesians 4:27, we learn that as Christians we give opportunity to the devil if we don’t deal with our wrong attitudes. Arrogant, rebellious, unforgiving, and contentious attitudes open up a door for the enemy to enter our life, marriage, church, nation, and world.

The devil only has access to the world through people’s sin and selfishness. Jesus defeated every demonic power on the cross 2,000 years ago – but Satan is still active to the exact degree people allow him to be. Sinners are not the only ones allowing him to work. Christians allow him to work when we don’t deal with our wrong attitudes.

Ephesians 4:26 tells us, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” So we must deal with any wrong attitudes on a regular basis – like taking a shower or brushing our teeth. It’s something we must do. We “put off,” the old man and “put on” the new man. That keeps the devil shut down. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence...”

YOUR MOUTH. The mouth is a powerful instrument and the devil knows it. Our mouth has spiritual power for either good or evil. The same mouth can pronounce a blessing or a curse. (Jas. 3:10) Our words can be a vehicle for the human spirit, the Holy Spirit, or an evil spirit.

The enemy loves to inspire us to speak unbelief, slander, gossip, and hurtful, harsh sarcasm. Many of us carry wounds from things said to us years ago. Don’t let the devil bring curses through your mouth. Think! Pray what David prayed in Psalm 141:3, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.”