Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind — 1 Peter 1:13
The Helps Lexicon from the Discovery Bible shows this phrase “gird up the loins” as 328 anazōnnymi (from 303/aná, "up to down" and 2224/zōnnymi, "gird, remove slack") – properly, raising up a tunic (= "tightening the belt"), "girding oneself"; (figuratively) getting ready (prepared) to move quickly as someone needs to arrive somewhere without delay (used only in 1 Pet 1:13).– literally "to pull up the belt (tightly)" – is a metaphor about removing mental slack, i.e. eliminating all useless thoughts (bad logic) by "tightening the mind”.
We know Peter is not referring to our clothing but rather a condition of our mind. Literally a tightening up of our thought processes which involves correcting loose thinking.
Since man is a three part being; spirit, soul and body, every battle is ultimately fought through the soul. The born again Spirit of man is always led by the Holy Spirit to righteousness. The flesh always yields to its peculiar lust of the moment and the soul becomes the deciding vote. Who will I agree with? Who will I submit to?
Everything we allow into our lives flows from our belief system and our mind sets, which work to permit us to do the things we do. While we are considering our choices, the mind, the will and our emotions are generally leading the way. Even the most spiritual individual will have to contend with these things as he aligns himself to the will of the Lord. The “loose thinking” ultimately proves to be the hindrance to our lives of obedience and consequently the blessing of the Lord.
It becomes vital to know and agree with the word in order to remove the slack in my thinking that had given me license to disobey the prompting of the Holy Spirit, thusdenying the grace that He had brought to me. Every thought must be taken captive to the obedience of Christ.
Hebrews 12:1 adds this thought: let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us.… Again from the Helps Lexicon in the Discovery Bible we read regarding 2139 euperístatos (from 2095/eú, "well"; 4012/perí, "all-around"; and 2476/hístēmi, "stand") – properly, well-planted (all-around), describing what is encompassing (encircling), i.e. surrounding, "wholly around"; (figuratively) a serious hindrance that "encircles" (hampers) someone who desperately also needs to advance.—
2139/euperistatos is used only in Heb 12:1 of "the besetting sin," i.e. the specific problem a particular individual faces (note the Greek definite article, "the"). This sin can be anything that encumbers a person from pleasing God – which may not be something wrong "in and of itself" but is still not of faith.
Ancient lexicons (Hesychius, Suidas) also describe 2139 (euperístatos) as a "setback from being too easy-going" (i.e. overly tolerant). Indeed sin quickly results when we are easily "taken in," i.e. over-influenced (easily upset, diverted).]
If we want to be successful in our spiritual lives and truly walk with God, then we must deal with the “loins of our minds” and “the sin which entangles us”. If we deliberately allow wrong thinking and wrong believing to continue in our lives, we will find ourselves tripped up or entangled by them, never making full progress of the call.