BY RUPBENE 

What is the mind? According to the psychology definition, the mind refers to the aspects of intellect and consciousness manifested as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, will and imagination, including all of the brain’s conscious and unconscious cognitive processes. The mind is often used to refer especially to the thought processes of reason. But what does the bible tell us about the mind? “… to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2. A person who can control the mind according to God’s will, the mind is the best of friends. But for those who have failed to do so, the mind will remain the greatest enemy in a person’s life. 

It has been almost one year since the pandemic started. I’m pretty sure most of us got to learn something from this pandemic. To me this pandemic taught me a lot on self-control and discipline. The mind plays a very big role when it comes to self-control and discipline. Ever we stopped gathering for worship on Sundays in church, it has been really hard disciplining myself to wake up and join the online worship session. The thought of, “no one is going to see me if I’m doing it or not” has been in my mind. Especially as I’m the only Christian in my family. 

But thanks to God for giving me the strength and wisdom to pull myself out from the misery. I used this opportunity to strengthen my knowledge and wisdom in the word of God. (Joshua 1:8) The bible helped me to remind myself constantly that I am a Christian. I have to set a good example for my family as a Christian. I must not procrastinate when it comes to worship and services. I even thought this could be a test to see if I’m strong in my faith in Christ. Although I failed in the beginning, I still managed to pull myself up again. I was guilty of my mistakes, but I took it as a lesson. We all make mistakes once in a while. But the most important thing we have to ask ourselves is did we learn from our mistakes? 

There are so many ways to control and discipline our mind. One of the ways is by spending time and sharing our daily life with brethren we are close to. This is one of the ways I used a lot during this period of time. It is really effective. The reason we should spend time with the brethren is because we “speak the same thing, and (we are) perfectly joined together in the same mind and judgement” (1 Corinthians 1:10b). Thanks to all those brethren who helped me during the tough time. 

“I was guilty of my mistakes,
but I took it as a lesson” 
Rupbene