When I was a boy living in Bendigo, there were nights when I had to walk home on a back road past a dark cemetery. (In those days it was possible to do that without being fearful.) There was a Chinese section in the front of the cemetery, and on the graves joss sticks were burned in memory of the dead. Bendigo was a goldfield and many Chinese miners worked there. (They were hard-workers and dug circular mines, whereas those dug by other miners were rectangular.) I can still remember that long, dark road, and how I whistled so I didn’t have to think about what might lurk in that dark and strange-smelling cemetery. The strong boyhood memory lingers.
Not so good memories can be healed — long forgotten by the conscious mind — which can surface and trouble the conscious mind — even of those who know that disturbing experiences of the past have been long forgiven. When we are “born again” (“born from above”) the spirit is instantly charged with the life of God. But not the mind, however, which needs to be renewed by the Word of God through a process.
The Apostle Paul writes about this in Ephesians 4:23, and about the process in the verse that follows. The last thing that God wants is for us to exhume the foul carcass of our old life so we can perform an autopsy on it. That old life was “buried with Christ in baptism” and the new life that arose from the waters of baptism (I’m speaking symbolically) has nothing in common with the old buried one. I say again: the spirit is renewed instantly when we are born again, but the mind is renewed through an ongoing process and reprogrammed by God’s Word. The conflict that exists between a believing heart and a haunted mind can result in self-condemnation, and an avoidance of prayer and devotion. Not to mention a loss of desire to fellowship with other Christians. If you can relate to this, you need to read my booklet: https://peterbarfootministry.com/books/how-to-renew-your-thinking/