The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized that any form of wrong living always comes from wrong thinking. One of my pastors used to always say, “He who controls the mind wins the battle.” And he was right.
There is a reason why the Bible talks so much about renewing our minds according to truth.
What goes in determines what comes out.
The old saying is true: “Garbage in = garbage out.” But the opposite is also true: “Truth in = transformation out.”
INPUTS DETERMINE OUTPUTS
Romans 12:2 reminds us of this principle: the input of “renewing our mind” equals the output of “transformation” and right living. I heard someone recently put it this way: “If you want to change the outcomes, you’ve got to change the inputs.”
Here’s the pattern the Bible shows us:
- What you think determines who you become (Proverbs 23:7)
- What you consume determines what comes from your heart (Matthew 15:10-20)
- What you meditate on determines what you do (Joshua 1:8)
- What you sow determines what you reap (Galatians 6:7-8)
- What you guard determines the course of your life (Proverbs 4:23)
Inputs determine outcomes. So if you want to change the outcomes, you’ve got to change the inputs.
OUR MIND DIRECTLY AFFECTS OUR HEART
This is profoundly true in parenting. When our child faces a mental hurdle, believes a lie about themselves, or struggles with their behavior, we have to help them see things from a perspective of truth—not feelings, culture, or media.
Changing the outside requires first addressing what’s on the inside.
And this is not a one-and-done conversation, but requires leaky faucet consistency as something that often takes a time and patience to rewire wrong thinking.
Here’s how you can apply this at home:
- Examine the inputs. What kind of music, shows, and friends are influencing my child? What messages are they absorbing daily? Serious parents take their child’s daily inputs seriously, not casually, or based on convenience.
- Redirect their thinking. When they say “I’m stupid” or “Nobody likes me,” respond with truth: “That’s not what God says about you. Let’s look at what’s actually true.” Don’t primarily try to convince them or reason with them. Allow Scripture to renew their mind by speaking loudly for itself.
- Build truth-habits. Read Scripture together, discuss their worries through a biblical lens, and help them see life through God’s perspective, not culture’s. Truth habits might come in the form of a daily verse at breakfast, nightly devotions before bed, weekly church attendance, or singing songs of praise on a daily car ride.
- Be intentional. You can’t control every input, but you can be the strongest voice speaking truth into your child’s life. Passive parents are the enemy’s tools. Kids are being bombarded daily with wrong messages. Parents must be vigilant and intentional to speak up, speak out, and speak truth in love daily to their children.
WE ARE PRODUCTS OF OUR INPUTS
You are not primarily the victim of your circumstances, you are the product of your inputs. What you allow into your mind, heart, and spirit directly determines what comes out and who you become.
The battle for your child’s heart isn’t primarily on the outside, it’s in their mind. Win the mind, and you win the battle for the heart.
As parents, that’s our job: filling our kids’ hearts and minds with truth so transformation can naturally follow. And there is no greater transformative truth than the power of the Gospel.
TRUTH IN = TRANSFORMATION OUT
How could you more consistently be a leaky faucet of truth into your child’s life this week?
Want more help on transforming your child’s mind in order to reach their heart? I wrote an entire chapter on this in the book Godly Parenting. You can check it out here.
