Flash 19: Gird up the loins of your Mind.

 1 Peter 1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus 

Our minds are an integral part of our human experience. This is because of the vital role it plays in perception, thought, feeling, and action. Daily, whether consciously or unconsciously, our minds inform us in functions of choice, desire, aversion, acceptance, refusal, preparation, and purpose. You cannot engage any of the aforementioned concepts without involving the mind. Simply put, the mind is the avenue through which we interpret and interact with the world around us. Take away the mind and all we have is an empty shell of an existence.

In biblical times, men used to wear robes. However, when it was time to work, the long tunic would get in the way; therefore, in preparation for work, the men would bring the loose ends of the robe and tuck them into the girdle, which gave their legs freedom of movement. This was called girding up your loins. Girding the loins of our minds means preparing our minds for action and service. It means shedding off and breaking loose of mindsets and attitudes that are not established in the truths of God's Word. 

Seeing how important our minds are, Peter admonishes us that it is imperative that we actively set up structures that build up and foster a healthy and robust mind that can overcome the adversities of life. Mental stamina that will enable us to overcome the traps and wiles of the evil one. Having a weak and ungodly mind sets us up as easy prey for the devil. Here are a few tips on how to gird up the loins of your mind... 

1. Reading the Word of God. 
The Word of God has an innate power to renew and recalibrate our minds. Our day-to-day activities often expose us to numerous influences designed to weaken and decay our minds. Talk of senseless entertainment, vain conversations, dirty politics, intrigues, biased media, etc. Unchecked, these serve to corrupt the mind and alienate us from the truth of God. However, constantly soaking our minds in the Word of God and reflecting and ruminating on it guarantees that we are nourished with more than enough mental fortitude to overcome whatever life serves us up. 

2. Prayer. 
Researcher Andrew Newberg, who had been studying the neurological effects of prayer and meditation since the 1990s, had the following to say concerning the same... "The thing that has always been so striking to me is just how rich and diverse spiritual experiences are for people, how they activate so many different parts of the brain,” he says. “There isn’t just one part of the brain that makes us religious or spiritual. If there is a spiritual part of ourselves, it’s our entire brain and how it works when we have these deep experiences, because it seems to be a complex pattern of activity in different directions.” Newberg reports increased activity in the frontal lobes (the part of the brain that helps focus attention) and, depending on the kind of prayer, increased activity in the language, visualization, emotional, and motor centers. The difference between prayer and other activities lies in the ignition.
“With religious activity, you seem to engage many other parts of the brain you typically don’t see with simply trying to solve a math problem or driving down the street,” Newberg says. “Prayer creates for the person fundamentally different experiences than any other experiences we have. The distinction comes with the pattern of activity and the intensity of activity.”
Various studies have also shown that prayer helps to manage anxiety and depression, boosts the immune system, enhances our ability to absorb and maintain information, and even increases our pain tolerance. 

3. Reduce intake of Entertainment.  
It is no secret that many things that we call entertainment dull the mind, with various types of research showing how excessive consumption of TV and social media shrinks down the gray matter in our brains, causing a reduction in mental performance. Popular entertainment on mass and social media can rightly be called weapons of mass destruction and distraction, seeing how it has been used to distract man from the main things of life by calling their attention to the superficialities of life, and we're the more miserable for it. 
Rather, invest in cultivating your talent, learning to play an organ, reading edifying literature, playing physical games like soccer and chess, and other activities that boost the mind. 

4. Practice Mindfulness through regular meditations and reflections. This helps to center you on the most important things in life. 

5. Surround yourself with good company. People who challenge your mind out of mediocre, comfort zone mentalities. People who provoke you to diligence, excellence,ce, and godliness. 

6. Take care of yourself. Watch over your health because your health affects your mind.

I finish again by saying, gird up the loins of your mind! Tschuss. 
Shilako Abutaka.