“I have made up my mind to obey your laws forever, no matter what.” Psalm 119:112 (CEV)

The reason why most people are ineffective in life is that they’ve never learned how to fight the battle in their mind.

If you want to learn to manage your mind, you have to be free from destructive thoughts. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, that isn’t easy. The Bible says you have three enemies working against you to keep you from making lasting changes in your life.

The first enemy is your old nature.
Paul says in Romans 7:23, “There is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (NLT).

Do you ever find yourself doing things you don’t really want to do? That’s the battle in your mind between your old, sinful nature and your good intentions.

The second enemy is Satan.
Satan cannot force you to do anything, but he can make suggestions, and those suggestions are incredibly powerful. He can use other people, the media, or even just suggest negative thoughts directly in your mind.

The third enemy is the world’s value system.
Does anything in our society encourage self-discipline? Not much. Advertisements tell us, “You deserve a break today” and “Have it your way.”

The Bible says in 1 John 2:16, “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world” (NIV).

With enemies like that, no wonder we struggle with temptation, discouragement, despair, and failure!

So how do you fight and win this battle? Look at what 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says: “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (NIV).

You have a choice when it comes to what you think about—and your mind has to listen to you! Make this verse your life motto: “I have made up my mind to obey your laws forever, no matter what” (Psalm 119:112 CEV).