Renewing Your Mind in Christ | Chelsea Harvey | Definition Church

The Collective 4/27/2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up, y'all? How's it going tonight? So excited to be here with you guys today. Thank you so much for inviting me back this semester. I'm really excited that I get to be up here and share with you tonight. And Zach, you didn't know this, but your prayer was very fitting for my intro. As we get ready to get started tonight, one of the things Zach asked me to preach about thought life and renewing your mind. And you know, when you're asked to preach something, then the enemy likes to tell you you have nothing to say about it, right? Or you just struggle with it. You enter into a battle. And if I'm just honest, last couple weeks of ministry have been pretty tough. And we lost a great leader in our church this past week and have been walking alongside that, their family with that. And just been going through a number of things, kind of battling. And I was having a hard day. We lost this leader on Monday, and on Tuesday, I was meeting with the family and dealing with all the people that were connected to planning this funeral. And I was supposed to do some things for our kids, and our twins had their kindergarten assessments. My twins are about to go to kindergarten, which is crazy. So they have to go have these assessments to get placed in classes, and and I was running late, and you know, just all the things, everything's falling apart. And I was sitting in my car, and you know, when you're driving and it's quiet, I didn't even turn on music, and my thoughts were just racing, right? And I'm replaying the day. And I found myself by the time I pulled up to my kids' daycare to pick up the twins and take them to their kindergarten assessment. My thoughts had raced to the point where I felt like I should probably resign being a pastor. I'm not good at it. I pr I'm not a good mom. My kids are so disappointed in who I am, right? And so I and I just and I just kind of wanted to give up. Like I just was in tears and I'm sitting there. And it's amazing sometimes when we're in the silence and we're stillness, how the enemy can play with our thoughts, right? Have you ever noticed how loud your thoughts can be in your head when there's nothing actually happening? In the silence of your car, walking to class, laying in bed at night, sitting down for a meal by yourself, when there's nothing else happening around you and our minds get quote unquote still, then the thoughts run crazy. We begin replaying conversations, overthinking what others have said, wondering what people think about us, just thinking about our future and wondering if God will actually come through for us. Those thoughts then tend to lead us into this place where we begin feeling anxious, rejected, being left, feeling left behind. You see, our thoughts are not neutral, they are forming something in us. Our thoughts don't just affect our mind, but they also shape our hearts. And our hearts are the center of everything, they are the wellspring of life. Scripture tells us from our hearts everything flows. You see, we are all being formed constantly into something. Something is always growing within us. And the question for us to really wrestle with is are we intentionally tending to it or are we just living with whatever is growing inside of us? If we go back to Genesis in the very beginning, we see the picture of a garden, right? And today I'm gonna use a lot of garden analogy because I love the garden. That is where I have met God the most in my life. In the very beginning, everything began in a garden, and you see what the very first battle humanity faced wasn't something physical, it was simply a thought. The serpent introduced this idea. Did God really say? And from that very moment, that thought began to shift everything. Because, see, thoughts are powerful. They are like seeds. And if we aren't careful which seeds we choose to accept, they can take root in us and produce things that we don't want to stay. Some of the things that we are all wrestling with right now, and the things that we are feeling didn't just start as emotions. Some of us would say we wrestle with things like anxiety or fear or frustration. And those things didn't just start as emotions, they started as thoughts that we let stay. Some of these thoughts might have sounded like, I am not enough. Everyone else has it figured out. I'll never figure it out. I'm always going to struggle with this. God made a mistake with me. God's really not that close. And these thoughts often didn't start big, but over time they began to grow. And because they stayed, they got planted in the soil of our hearts. And you see, that is what's happening inside of us. There is a garden growing. And what we have to realize is that when seeds are planted, like a tree, you don't just plant a tree and see it automatically grow overnight, but give it time, and suddenly it's something that's strong and rooted and hard to remove. What grows in your mind started as something that you believed long enough. A thought doesn't have to be big to be powerful, it just has to stay long enough. You see, we can't control every thought that we have, but we can decide what stays. Let me say that again. You can't necessarily control every thought that you have, but you can decide what stays. Scripture tells us this that we are to take every thought captive, right? 2 Corinthians 10, 4 through 5 says it this way: We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach those thoughts to obey Christ. We have the ability to take thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. You may not have the ability to necessarily control what initially enters your mind all the time. We do have a little bit of control over that, but we do have the authority over what stays, what we dwell on, what we agree with, and what we choose to replay. A passing thought has no power until you give it the permission to stay and be rooted. Let's think about it this way. As I said, I love a garden. That's the place that God has truly helped me see him and his character and so much about his ways. Our thoughts are like seeds, right? And our heart is like the soil. And when a seed comes in and it hits the soil, our attention is what waters it. So when we have a thought and it gets planted in the soil, if we continue to give it attention, that is watering it. And then our agreement is like the sunlight that helps it grow and build roots. Our thoughts are like seeds, our heart is the soil. When we give it attention, we're watering it. And our agreement is like the sunlight. What you waters, what you water grows. What you agree with will take root, and what you rehearse in your mind, you will reinforce in your life. So the real question I have for you tonight is what are you letting stay? You see, a lot of us aren't just noticing thoughts, but we have chosen to partner with them. We've chosen to sit with them, replay them. We build narratives around them. I mean, think about how simple it is. This happens at least to me, maybe to you. But every once in a while you send a text to someone, and then a day passes, and then two days pass, and you're starting to go, why didn't they text me back? Right? Yeah, see? Okay. So you've experienced this too. All right. And then you decide, well, should I should I text them again? Should I remind them? Well, no, they probably didn't text me back because they're mad at me. Oh my gosh, they're so mad at me. They hate me. Oh, no one ever likes me. I always ruin all of my relationships. No one wants to be my friend. And so then something that was just a simple potentially forgotten text has become this whole narrative that we've taken and placed an identity on, and it's begun to impact the way that we look at ourselves and look at our relationships with other people. Nothing actually happened, but internally a whole story began to grow because we had a thought, we chose to give it attention, and then our agreement with that thought allowed it to take root. Not every thought deserves a place in your garden. Unchecked thoughts will become beliefs, and if we aren't careful, we'll be growing a garden of weeds in our life. So how do we keep this from happening? Right? Renewal is what the Bible talks us, talks to us about. Romans 12, 2 tells us that we must be transformed by the what? Renewing of our mind. Now, renewal is not just removal, it's replanting. Renewal is not just the removal of the thought, but it is replanting. It's like a total renovation on what is happening in our mind. You see, you can't just stop thinking about something that is wrong. You must replace it with what is true so that truth can grow in its place. Right? See, if I told you to stop thinking about the pink elephant, what are you thinking about right now? Oh, the brown elephant, that's interesting. I like that. You see, you can't just initially immediately remove thoughts. You have to take them captive and then replace them with something in its place. And this is where a lot of us get stuck in our thought processes. You see, um, last year my husband, well, my husband and I bought a new house a couple years ago, and last year I decided I wanted to redo all of the raised garden beds, but it was gonna take me a while because there was a ton of overgrown plants and weeds in that area. So last year I removed all these overgrown plants and all of these weeds from that side of the yard and um got the beds really clean and clear, but by the end of that, if I'm just real honest, I was tired. And so they just sat and I was like, I'll do it next year. Well, if you just leave the bed like it is, what grows back? The weeds. Right. So this year, guess what I was doing last weekend? Removing the weeds again. The same thing is true in our hearts and in our lives and in our minds. If we pull out the weeds or the negative thoughts and we don't replace them with God's truth, what's gonna grow back? The lies, the weeds. And you see, this is not simply just a mental process. It's something that's really emotional, and it is about emotional and spiritual healing. It's all interconnected, right? Our mind and our heart are connected. When we change what we think and we take the thoughts captive, we begin to change what we feel, and ultimately it changes then what we believe and how we live. If we're going to remove the lies in our life, we have to replace them with what? God's truth. What God has to say, what is actually true. Philippians 4 8 tells us this. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. You must fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, right and pure, lovely and admirable. Think about these things that are excellent and worthy of praise. So when a thought comes in, we can ask, is this thought actually true? How do we define truth? By the word of God. What God says, that is ultimate truth. When a thought comes in and it's a seed, we have to ask, is this how God speaks? Is it in line with his voice? How do we know that? By knowing what his voice sounds like in the word of God. We have to ask, is this in line with the character of God and what he would have to say about this thing? Is this thought something that's producing life in me? Is this thought leading me into freedom or back into bondage? Is this thought leading me into independence or dependency on God? We must take every thought captive and then give it to our Father and say, God, what do you think about this? Should it play? Should it have time, my attention? Should it be watered? Should it be planted? Or do you want this to grow? So when we do this, when we have thoughts like things that I'm behind in life, I'm never gonna get caught up. God's forgotten about me. We go to his word and we say, is this what God would actually say? Is this who God is? Is he actually behind? No, God is patient. He's not in a hurry with you, and that's okay. He's taking his time because he delights in you. Isaiah 66, 13 says that we will find comfort in him as we wait on the Lord. Psalm 138.8 would remind us that the Lord will accomplish what concerns me, and his loving kindness is everlasting to me. He's not behind. He's being kind and gentle in this process with me. Psalm 27, 13 would say this, that we can remain confident of this, that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. So he's not behind, we're gonna see his goodness, right? This works like this. Let's say you have the thought, I'm never gonna change. Nothing's ever gonna change. Well, if we take that thought and we submit it to Christ and say, God, what would you have to say about this? We would be reminded that God is actively transforming us into the likeness of Christ. You see, John 8.36 said that if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Romans 8.28 would say that he is working all things together for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. And Revelation 21, 5 would remind us he is making what? All things new. You will change, he will bring it to completion. Instead of the lie of thinking that we are alone, we would submit that to Christ and we would say, No, God is with me. His word tells me that he's here now. He is not far, but he is present, present in this very moment. Exodus 14, 14 would tell us that he is fighting for us in this very minute. We are not fighting alone, that God is with us. Isaiah 40, 29 would say that he is giving us his power and he gives power to the weak. And Joshua 1.9 would tell me that I don't have to be afraid or discouraged because the Lord God is with me and he will never leave me, right? If you don't replace the lie with the truth, you will return to it. If you don't replace the lie with the truth, you will return to it. If you don't plant truth where the lies once lived, the lies will grow back by default. We have to participate in this process and be an active participant and helping God's word and his truth be the thing that grows in us. And that is how we will experience the renewal of our minds. We must get in the word. We have to actually open up our Bibles. I'm telling you, you gotta actually open this thing up. And it might seem foreign at first, but when you read it, you will be amazed that time after time it'll become easier, and you will be amazed how often you will read something that applies to the exact thing that you were thinking about, because this word it is living and active. It's the thing that teaches us about God's character. So when we're trying to figure out is this something that God would actually have me do, or is God the one that's doing this thing? When we've read his word and we understand the stories and we see the themes that are going throughout scripture, that is the thing that will help us to know what is actually true. Because we have a deceiver who is like a out there like a lion, trying to see who he can come and devour. And if we aren't careful, we will be deceived by the lies in our life if we have not actually read what the real truth is, and that is the only way we will actually renew our minds. We must actually read the word of God. We've got to learn about his character, and we have to talk to people that have a shared mission with us. And this is really important because the other way that truth will take root is through our community and our relationships. That is why God wants us to not do our faith alone. It's not meant to just be something that's personal and private. It is something that is supposed to be communal, but you have to be careful, you have to be willing to talk about these things with people that have a shared mission. People who are running after the same God that you're running after. People who are actually reading the word. And so that when your life, your thought life becomes out of alignment with the word, they're gonna say, hey, that's not what God says. I'm so thankful for the other day when I was driving in my car and I got to my kids' daycare, and I'm having all these thoughts that my phone rang. It was my very best friend. And I picked up the phone, and you know how you try to make your voice sound normal. And she goes, What's wrong? I was like, I'm fine, what are you talking about? And she goes, No, you're not. I'm so thankful for a friend that knows my voice and knows when things aren't right. And I said, Well, actually, this is what was going on. And she said, You know that's not true. This is what God says about you, Joseph. You know the dreams that you've had, you know the words that people have spoken over you. You are called to preach the word of God. You love people well. She goes, You're a great mom. You sacrifice all the time. She goes, There's half the time I'm like, gosh, if I could only be half of the mind. You know, she's just pumping up my self-esteem and just telling me all these beautiful things and talking about the way that she saw me care for my kid the day before when they got hurt, or the thing that I stopped and said to someone in the lobby, or she noticed all the things and spoke what was actually happening and helped reorient my mind to what was true in the moment. And then she prayed, God's word over me. Sometimes we need friends like that. God is what helps us read our dreams. That lovely God wants to meet you in the garden. He wants to heal both your head and your change. And everything that we're talking about is not just better thinking, it's about healing something which you need to change. Some of our thoughts are rooted in things like. Past experiences, insecurities, wounds, rejection, fear, and shame. And there are times, if we're really honest, we can't just logic our way out of those things because they're real life situations. They're things that have happened to us. And unfortunately, there are things that have already taken root. And we need to heal the soil of our hearts. So that when seeds hit that, we're giving things attention that actually should continue to take root. Because the soil is good. And you see, God doesn't stand distant or outside, far away, just saying, fix it all and then come back to me when you're ready and I'll help you work out this process in your future. No, he steps into this process with us. He meets us right in the middle of our anxiety. He meets us in our overthinking and our spiraling. And he begins to gently tell us what is actually true if we will stay long enough with him. Because you have a heavenly father that wants to tend the garden of your mind and your heart with you. So if you will give him space to do that, if you will be honest with the thoughts that are replaying and the things that are happening, and you bring them to your heavenly father and allow him to begin speaking truth over those things, the soil of our hearts begins to heal. And then we are empowered day by day to more quickly take our thoughts captive and submit them to Christ. You see, this isn't something that you'll just figure out once and then it'll always work out perfectly. I've been doing this for a long time, and I told you about a story that happened less than a week ago. But I will tell you this because the soil of my heart is so much healthier today, because I've been submitted to this process, that stopped in less than 15 minutes. Versus what used to take months and months for me to see truth. And the same thing can be true for you. If you will continually, not just once, not today or tomorrow while you're here, but if you'll continually, when you go back home this summer, when you go on that trip, if you'll continually submit to the process of allowing the Word of God to be planted in your heart and fertilize that soil and heal the hurts and heal the shame and heal the past wounds of your life, you'll be able to do it in 15 minutes versus a couple days, a few weeks, several months. Because God has come so that you can have life and life more abundantly, right? He wants to restore your soul. So as we get ready to wrap up and head to group tonight, I just want you in your seats right now to be really honest. What thought has been taking up the most space in your mind lately? Don't overthink it, just notice it. But what thought has been taking up the most space in your mind lately? What is that producing in your heart? Is it from God? Does it sound like your heavenly father's voice? Is it leading you to life? Does it align with his truth? If not, I want you to literally visualize yourself. Close your eyes and visualize yourself. Pulling that out of the ground and throwing it away. And then ask yourself, God, what is true instead?

unknown 26:58

Let him speak.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Some of you need to know that God's not done with you yet. Some of you need to know that his heart's just as broken about the same thing that your heart is broken about. Some of you need to know that he just loves you. Some of you need to know that you are valuable, that you are a treasure to the Most High King. Some of you need to know that you were created with that mind on purpose. That your thoughts are not wild or crazy or too out of order. God's come to meet you in that place and bring order to those places. What is the truth that God wants to speak to you? Let that take route. Your life is moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts. So let's let our thoughts and our minds be set on Christ and His Word and what's true. This evening, as we get ready to close, I just want to give you the opportunity now, with whatever God said to you, to respond and to come forward and share that with someone. So I want to invite our prayer team up here. And uh, if you feel that there's something that God put his finger on, I want you to come and share that with the person and what is the truth, and then allow the person on our prayer team to pray that truth over you. And let's give the truth the attention, not the lie. And let's water that so that that can be what takes root in our lives. There's not a lot of things in our life that we have control over. Control is not something that we are meant to have, but we're to give it to God. But you do have the ability to control what stays. And so today, let's give those things the attention. And I believe that if we will continue to put this into practice, your thoughts will not look the same a few years from now. You will live a life that is less chaotic, less anxious, less overwhelming, and more filled with the power of your heavenly Father who loves you. You can learn to tend the garden of your heart and of your mind and find freedom in Him. In Jesus' name. We pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just thank you for this room and all over this room. I know that you've been speaking to people. We all battle things in our mind, but thank you, God, that we can submit our thoughts to Christ and that you have the ultimate power and authority to help us be restored to life the way that you designed and intended it. God, we do not have to partner with the lives of the enemy, but we can speak your truth and it will take fruit. And God, you will lead us. You will make all things new. You will restore our minds, you will restore our hearts, and we will live into the greater freedom because God, you are making us new. And so, God, I thank you for the faith of the people that are in this room to begin us, recognizing what is out of order and not in line with what your voice sounds like and what your word says. And God, I pray today that the things that they pull up will never find root in their life again. But God, that your truth would do that. And in Jesus' name I pray, amen. And right now in the room, if you have something, I just encourage you to stand up and come forward and share it with the people on our prayer team. And tonight we just believe that the truth of God will be rooted in your life.