“Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.”
Psalm 77:6
What’s on your playlist?
I’m not talking about your playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Pandora, YouTube Music, or whatever playlist platform you favor. I’m talking about the playlist in your mind.
That never-ending stream of words, thoughts, pictures, and/or songs that play non-stop beneath your active consciousness. It’s called subconscious thinking and it’s estimated that the subconscious mind controls or impacts up to 95%of your conscious thoughts, decisions, and behavior.1
Here’s another fun fact: “The human brain can absorb about 11,000,000 bits of information a second, the conscious mind can only process about 40 bits a second.” Guess where most of the spillover goes? You’re right if you guessed “the subconscious.”2
It’s from those accumulating millions of bits of information that your playlist is created. It’s amazing when you think about the quantity of input that you absorb daily. It’s downright terrifying when you consider the quality of the input that fills your mind – so much of it unchecked, unfiltered, and unwelcomed.
How often have you said, “Wow, that’s something I’ll never be able to un-see or un-read or un-hear!”
It’s troubling that so much of what fills our minds seems out of our control. It’s even more troubling when you realize that this seemingly random onslaught of data is a targeted strategy right out of Satan’s playbook.
That doesn’t mean that we’re attacked only by the unholy, heinous, wicked, and ugly. Often it is the deluge of seemingly meaningless bits of data and information that come together to overwhelm, distract, discourage, and disorient. We can be as easily undone by the good, as we are by the bad and the ugly.
So how can we make sure that the mass of uninvited information that sits in our subconscious is not driving our behavior, informing our decisions, and shaping our opinions and conversations?
“For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
Romans 8:6 ESV
Thankfully, God designed our minds so that the unwanted, potentially harmful things can lose their priority positions to be submerged deep below the good, edifying, healthy, and God-honoring truths that we have chosen to believe and follow.
This is a part of the believer’s sanctification process – the transformation into the image of Christ Jesus. It is a process in which we can willingly participate or that we can delay by foot-dragging and lack of cooperation.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Roman 12:2 ESV
Romans 12:2 ESV
The more fully we surrender ourselves to the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in our minds, hearts, and lives, the more our decisions, emotional states, and behaviors will be driven by godly principles and habits.
Here’s how it works. As we read Scripture, pray, converse with our Father, hear sermons, read Christian writings, and listen to Christian podcasts, gospel songs, worship music, and hymns, we are filling our minds – conscious and subconscious – with new and encouraging truths and godly principles.
“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
Joshua 1:8 NLT
The more intentionally, diligently, and thoughtfully we work to shepherd godly content into our minds, the deeper the harmful data is buried. By actively building godly content upon godly content, the more actively involved this spiritually healthy and god-honoring information becomes in shaping our thoughts, opinions, responses, and behaviors. The Holy Spirit will multiply our understanding. He will increase our desire and love for God and His truth. He will do His sanctifying and transformative work in us, unhampered by a willful and rebellious mind.
As the unhealthy, ungodly content is further buried under the weight of the good and godly, it loses its potency and impact.
And isn’t that exactly what we want? We want our mental playlist to lose the words of accusation and disapproval, the anxiety-causing worries, the harmful seductions of sin, and the distracting noises of inappropriate concerns and upsets.
Let it be our prayer that we learn to focus on all things that are soul-strengthening, God-honoring, and spirit-filling.
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
Psalm 139:23 ESV
So, Friend, I ask again, “What’s on your playlist?”
Finally, …whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8 ESV
1 Darya Sinusold, “How Does the Subconscious Mind Work?” Shortform Book Guide (11/21), Article Excerpt from Joseph Murphy, “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind”
2 Dr. Judy Pierson, Delaware Hospice, “The Power of the Subconscious Mind,” Researchgate.net