When it comes to media, you often encounter issues that need solutions. It could be a technical issue, a staffing issue, or a training issue, but challenges come with the territory. And for those of us in leadership, correctly assessing and then dealing with problems is a major component of leadership. It may not always be fun, but it just comes with the territory. Dealing with challenges is what leaders do.

But sometimes the issues are more complex than replacing old equipment or hiring a new technician. Sometimes, we discover that the primary challenges we’re facing come from within. What do you do when your problems are related to your thought patterns or distracting emotions?

Our minds give us the capacity to focus, reason, and be decisive, but every leader goes through times of dealing with thought patterns that are keeping them from moving forward. There’s a long list of possible mental traps that you can find yourself caught up in: self doubt, criticism, fear, hurt, and jealousy, just to name a few. And sometimes these destructive thought traps can hold you captive for weeks or months.

Sometimes our minds are stuck in negative and critical loops. Other times we are imprisoned by hurtful events. There are a variety of reasons that we can find ourselves stuck, and our families and ministries always suffer as a result.

A few months ago, after hearing a Life.Church Online sermon (watch) that stopped me in my tracks, I decided to pick up Craig Groeschel’s newest book, Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. Central to both the sermon and the book are a couple of statements:

“Our lives are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. What we think shapes who we are.”

“In ten years, we will each look in the mirror, and someone will stare back. That person will be shaped by the thoughts of today.”

When we’re leading, the last thing we want to do is be stuck, and these ideas help us to understand that our thoughts are wearing a path in our minds and emotions. And that path allows us to deal with our challenges by blaming others or being passive.

“If you think you’re trapped, if you believe there’s a lock on the door, you’ve bought into a lie. And it is the lie, nothing else, that is holding you back. Yet if you identify that lie, then you can remove it. You can replace it with the truth and be free. Your liberation is a simple two-step process: Remove the lie. Replace it with truth.”

You need to discover the lie you’ve been duped into believing and then cling to the truth of Scripture that addresses that lie.

For instance, if you’re dealing with self doubt, you need to cling to passages like 1 John 4:4: “…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Or if you’re fighting fear, you need to remind yourself of Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

As you renew your mind with the Word of God and learn to trust His thoughts above your natural thoughts, God will give you strength to win the war in your mind.

Praying that God will give you victory,
Kyle