How would you respond to this news? Would you be shocked? Skeptical? Worried? Well, believe it or not, the scenario above isn’t completely imaginary. Every year, more than four million teens—that’s the equivalent of the population of all those states I just mentioned—contract a sexually transmitted disease. That’s right, teens, just like you.
Teens face other problems, as well. The challenges you face as teens today aren’t just sexual. By the time they graduate from high school, 56 percent of teens are regular drinkers, and 40 percent will be binge-drinkers. Today, eight teens will die as a result of alcohol. Tomorrow will be the same sad story. And the next day, and the next. . . . Alcohol is a key factor in the three leading causes of teen death: auto accident, homicide, and suicide.
Also Download: 100 Ways To Motivate Yourself
Do you hear heartbreaking facts like these and wonder Why? I have asked the same question. Fortunately, God’s Word has the answers. You might think that peer pressure, the media, or poor parenting and adult leadership are to blame. And you might be right, at least partially. But the most crucial battle you will fight in your efforts to live a meaningful, safe, satisfying life won’t be fought in the halls of your school, at an after-prom party, in Internet chat sessions, or even in front of the television. The most epic fight of them all will be fought in the battlefield of your mind. I want to help make sure that the good guys win.
Proverbs 23:7 tells us, “For as [a person] thinks in his heart, so is he” (NKJV). In other words, your attitude determines your actions. Think of your body as a state-of-the-art computer; your mind is the hard drive. It runs everything else. If your hard drive gets corrupted—or crashes—it doesn’t matter how high-def your monitor is, how loud your speakers are, or how fast your Internet connection is. If the hard drive is compromised, your computer is, at best, a giant paperweight, a monument to lost potential and wasted money.
I have been helping people like you better understand God’s Word for almost thirty years, and the longer I serve Him and study His Word, the more I realize how important thoughts and words are. I truly believe that God’s Holy Spirit has been leading me to study the Battle for the Mind and give a report directly from the frontlines to you.
I want you to win the battle for your mind. I want you to win big. And I want you to be able to help others win, too.
Your first step toward victory is truly understanding Proverbs 23:7—the verse that promises us that how we think of ourselves determines who we are. One Bible translation adds a key insight. It says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so does he become.” Did you catch the subtle difference between the two translations? That’s right, the battle for your mind not only decides who you are as a person right now—but also who you will be in the future.
Your life, your actions, will always be a direct result of your thoughts. If you have a negative mind-set, you will have a negative life. But if you renew your mind according to God’s plan for you, you will have an abundant life. It’s that simple.
Your life might be very difficult right now. Ninety-nine percent of high-school students say they suffer from stress at least some of the time. But don’t give up. Don’t despair or become cynical. Little by little, you can change. The fact that you are reading these words right now shows that you have at least some hope.
Keep hoping. Keep striving to change your mind for the better. Because when you change your mind for the better, you change your life for the better. When you begin to see God’s amazing plan for your life, you’ll want to follow it.
I pray that this book will help you win the battle for your mind—and the battle for your life. -- Joyce Meyer
Culled from the book
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