If you think you can’t do something, you probably won’t. If, on the other hand, you think you can, odds are you will. […] If you feel like a victim, you’ll think like a victim, and the direction of your life could be one of misery. But if you believe that by the power of Christ you can overcome, then with his help you can.
Craig Groeschel, Winning the War in Your Mind, Pages 20-21
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another Christian book review for The Christian Book Corner.
Today’s book is Winning the War in Your Mind by Craig Groeschel. It’s a great book I highly recommend, so I’m happy to write this review of it.
We all have negative or unwanted thoughts sometimes. Some of us deal with this more than others. But even the person with the ‘healthiest’ mind in the world still has to struggle to keep their thoughts healthy and self-constructive. If our thoughts are self-hating, self-criticizing, etc., we tear ourselves down every day. It goes without saying this will lead us nowhere but misery.
So taking control of our inner thought life is of the utmost importance—for Christians and non-Christians alike.
But how do we do that?? Well, there are a ton of strategies and books out there on the subject. Every quality book on the subject deserves attention and a read. But today’s book is a Christian book written from a Biblical perspective. That makes it especially useful to us. So keep reading and let me tell you about Winning the War in Your Mind.
What’s in the Book
Winning the War in Your Mind is a book about how to take control of our inner thought life. It’s about more than just learning to “think positive.” It’s more serious than that.
Satan is always attacking us, and the battlefield is in our own mind. Satan’s weapon of choice is lies. If satan succeeds in making us believe his lies, then he can make our lives miserable. This is because if we come to believe a lie, it becomes true in our life because we mistakenly think it’s true when it’s not.
The result of believing a lie like “no one loves you, you’re unlovable” is that we’ll think that way about ourselves. And if that’s what we think about ourselves in our head, our real life will start to reflect that. We actually will be deprived of love, all because of a lie of the devil’s that we believed. So besides this example, we can also see how satan can use lies to make us depressed, keep us in addictions, or divert us from fulfilling the purpose God has for us.
The author, Craig Groeschel, puts it like this:
Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. What we think shapes who we are.
[… … …]
If you think you can’t do something, you probably won’t. If, on the other hand, you think you can, odds are you will. […] If you feel like a victim, you’ll think like a victim, and the direction of your life could be one of misery. But if you believe that by the power of Christ you can overcome, then with his help you can.
Craig Groeschel, Winning the War in Your Mind, Page 1; Pages 20-21
Since our lives always move in the direction of our strongest thoughts, it’s clear how critical it is that we have healthy thoughts. We need to take control of our thought life so that we lead our life in a more positive direction. As the author, Groeschel, often says in his book: “If we change our thoughts, we change our life.”
Winning the War in Your Mind is a guidebook to how we can do that.
The book is built around four principles for taking control of our thoughts. The Replace Principle, the Rewire Principle, the Reframe Principle, and the Rejoice Principle.
The Replace Principle is about replacing the lies satan tells us with the Truth. That is, with Biblical Truth. The Rewire Principle is about reinforcing good thought habits while letting the old ones die. The Reframe Principle is about changing the way we look at our life and the things that happen. And the Rejoice Principle is about shifting our mindset to one of being happy to praise God all the time for being good.
Of course that’s not the whole story for each of those principles, but I don’t want to get bogged down explaining them. If you find them interesting I highly recommend reading the book to learn more.
Anyway, each one of these principles is explained in a Biblical context, with Scripture. Putting these principles into action is how we change our life.
I Thought There’d Be Science here … ??
But nothing is perfect in this fallen world, and Winning the War in Your Mind is no exception. I do have a criticism of it.
The back cover advertises that this book is based on a Biblical and scientific view. It says, “Drawing on Scripture and the latest findings of brain science, […].” And that gives the idea that there will be a lot of brain science in this book.
Well, there is brain science in Winning the War in Your Mind, yes. But there’s not much of it, and so the book is firmly on the Biblical side of things (nothing wrong with that). The author doesn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to discussing brain science. So much is left unsaid.
I guess I’m a unique case because I read The Compass of Pleasure by David Linden and The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge in the same year I read Winning the War in Your Mind. Though the other two titles are still aimed at the mainstream audience, they are much more specialized on the topic of the brain with a lot more info. Yeah, it could be an unfair comparison. But the fact remains if you want to know the latest in brain science, Winning the War in Your Mind won’t tell you the whole story.
In my last book review I criticized Addiction & Grace for going light on the science, but this book goes even lighter. Even when advertising brain science as one of the interesting points about the book.
But it’s OK. I don’t think the lack of brain science detail diminishes the value of this book by too much. The main points the author wants to make are Biblical anyway. His best ideas are Bible-based. This is a Christian book that references science here and there. If the science truly had a large part in the writing of this book, I don’t see it. And that’s fine, because it’s a good Christian book.
A statement from my Addiction & Grace review applies to this book too, word-for-word. I only switched the titles around, and it makes a statement that applies for both books.
I don’t think [the lack of brain science detail] diminishes the value of [Winning the War in Your Mind]. But if you want to know the latest science, this book won’t help you I’m afraid.
https://999online.net/2021/09/17/the-christian-book-corner-11-addiction-grace/
The Final Word
This book is so easy to read. I want to point that out first. I read so many books each year and not all are easy to read, so when I read through a book like this it’s a real pleasure. And it’s not only the big margins that make it a pleasant reading experience. I mean Craig Groeschel is actually a good writer who writes stuff that’s easy to read. He doesn’t use obscure words and phrases.
With that out of the way, the topic of this book is so important.
Satan is always attacking our mind, and if we ignore the fight (or are unprepared for it), his lies will take our lives in directions we don’t want to go. At the very least, the lies we mistakenly believe will hold us back from reaching our true potential. Not only does that not honor God, it’s also not what we want either.
So we need some kind of strategy for the war in our mind, which everyone has to fight. The only person thinking in your head is you, so, it’s up to each one of us to fight our own battle.
Winning the War in Your Mind, with it’s 4 principles to live by (or think by), is an excellent help in the battle. It provides an overview of the battle, gives strategies, and directs us to the relevant Scripture for fighting the thought war.
I definitely recommend this book because it covers very important truths for a believer’s life in a very understandable way. Read it today!! Use it to help you change your thoughts, and then you can change your life.
Winning the War in Your Mind
by Craig Groeschel. Zondervan Books, 2021.
Buy Winning the War in Your Mind on Amazon. (This is an affiliate link. I receive a small commission if you buy with this link.)
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Until next time, be strong and do good!!
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