We are told we have a mind and soul that are influenced by our flesh or by our spirit. If we are mostly allowing the Holy Spirit to direct our thinking we can usually live a less sinful life. However, when we permit our flesh to direct our actions we probably would live more like the world. If we should live as the world lives we might encounter problems from a negative perspective and become either overly discouraged or depressed. It would be more likely that we try to solve our problems by ourselves rather than trusting God to meet our needs.

A number of years ago a very devote Christian lady we know was encountering some problems in her life. She became very depressed. She allowed her depression to become an escape from her problems. Rather than trusting God to meet her need, she became involved in an affair. She then developed a guilt complex that she couldn’t seem to get over. She was sharing the situation with my wife and how it had affected her life. Instead of overcoming her depression it became worse and caused anger and loneliness. Of course, she allowed her flesh to make her decisions.

I heard a story how doctors believed that the mind, under certain circumstances, can cause one’s body to heal on its own. They had two patients who needed knee operations. For the first patient they did what they normally would do in order to surgically fix the problem. The second they made three minor punctures and stated they had used a new procedure. They both were wrapped equally and afterwards both were treated the same. Two years later they both had no knee problems and x-rays indicated both had healed. Surgery healed one and the mind or a miracle healed the other.

My wife was having tremendous pain with a foot. X-rays indicated the need for surgery. A nurse told her to take a tennis ball and roll the bottom of her foot back and forth on the ball. She did this constantly for days. She has had no problem with pain in her foot for the past two years.

We make choices every day. When problems come and they always will, do we ask: “God why aren’t you meeting my need?” Or, do we say: “God, I know you are with me. Please help me make the right decisions and get through this situation?” How can God build our faith and trust unless we see Him getting us through the valleys of life? The greater our knowledge that we acquire through Bible study the more wisdom God gives to us. Our relationship to God and our trust factor can be a very positive effect on our minds and bodies. We are told stress is probably harder on our bodies than anything else. Why would the Bible tell us not to worry? Disappointment and depression is normally caused by fleshly thinking and results in stress that can be damaging to our health.

Our spirits and minds have tremendous influences over our bodies and our well-being. Would you rather have your mind controlled by the flesh or by your spirit and the Holy Spirit? Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Do we not believe that God is in control and can change things? When problems come do they control us or do we, through Christ, control them? Therefore, we must stop conforming to the pattern of this world and have a mind that daily is being transformed and renewed to have the mind of Christ. Once we are developing the mind of Christ there is no longer a need to become depressed. Maybe disappointed or frustrated but only temporarily.