they also may have their flesh dealt with; yet they have no victory in
10 The Life that Wins
Friendship is also a matter to be reckoned with here. A certain brother maintained a friendship with an unbeliever above all others. Such conduct is not viewed as a sin in the eyes of the world, but to us who are Christians it is a sin. A missionary once testified that he refused someone's friendship because the latter asked for a friendship above all others.
3. Sins of the Mind. Many may not commit sins of the spirit, and they also may have their flesh dealt with; yet they have no victory in their mind. Their thoughts drift, wander, and are scattered. Some find their thoughts to be unclean or too imaginative or full of doubt or full of curiosity. They want to know everything, they cannot abide the unknown. Those who have this kind of mind have not entered into victorious living. As a matter of fact, few actually experience victory in their mind at all. Once I met a sister who wondered why her thoughts always drifted. I also met a brother who confessed that his thoughts were continually unclean. We must deal with this area if we want to live out the life of God.
Imagination or doubt damages many Christians. Suppose, for example, you meet a brother on the street whose face appears to be somewhat unpleasant; immediately you surmise that he must be unhappy with you. But upon reaching his home, you come to learn that he has not slept well and his head is aching. You had imagined he had something against you, but actually it was not that at all.
How we are hurt by imagination, yet we consider ourselves to be most discerning. Let us remember that only our Lord "searcheth the reins and hearts" (Rev. 2.23). Many falsely imagine so and so is such and such. By so doing, we have sinned in our mind. We pronounce too much judgment and imagine too much for our own good. We must deal with our minds before God, else how can we possibly enter into the life that wins?