The Importance of Renewing Our Minds
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START WITH HEART
Lord, as You speak please help me listen with my whole heart and Holy Spirit please meet me today and make me more like Jesus.
Romans 12:2(KJV)
And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
The importance of continually renewing our minds with God’s Word cannot be overstated. Firstly, we need to understand that, just as God is a three-part being – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – so are we. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 reveals that we are spirit, soul and body – we are spirit beings, created in God’s image; we live in a body and we have a soul, which consists of our mind, will and emotions.
Our mind is where our thoughts are. When we first come to know the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that we are a new creation and that who we were before has died. This is not talking about our body (as we still look the same!) or our soul. This is talking about our being born again in our spirits. We are forgiven and have eternal life in the spirit – yay!
However, our minds (where our emotions and thought life are) now have to be renewed, transformed and changed to be like Christ our Saviour’s. Before we come to know Him we think and behave in a worldly and ungodly way. Have you ever heard the saying that the battlefield is in the mind? This is so true – our enemy Satan, whom the bible describes as the father of lies and the god of this world, brings all kinds of ungodly, untrue thoughts into our minds to discourage us, trip us up, confuse us, deceive us and play havoc with our emotions. The only way we can stand against them is to constantly be filling our minds with what God’s Word says – about us, the world around us, the meaning of life and the values and principles we need to live our lives by. Renewing our minds will make the difference between being able to face our trials head on and walk through them on to victory, with God’s Word to strengthen and guide us, or not to be able to!
Romans 12:1-2 (MSG) explains how to do this so well: “Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around life- and place it before God as an offering. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. INSTEAD, FIX YOUR ATTENTION ON GOD. YOU’LL BE CHANGED FROM THE INSIDE OUT.”
Ephesians 4 :17-24 talks about us replacing the “old man” with the “new man” : replacing our former thinking and way of life and being made new in the attitude of our minds. This is how we become more like Christ, and start to walk and talk and live as He wants us to. James 1:21 (AMP) puts it this way: “So get rid of all uncleanness and all that remains of wickedness, and with a humble spirit receive the Word of God, which is implanted, (actually rooted in your heart), and which is able to save your souls.”
This is an ongoing process – the more time we spend in God’s Word, the more it will root itself in our spirits and change and renew our minds, and therefore our thinking, actions and emotions.
As we do this, we become able to stand against adverse circumstances and situations in our lives, and the attacks and lies of the enemy. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV) then starts to happen in our lives, which says: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” In other words, we have filled our hearts and minds so fully with God’s Word that we are able to stand against attacks of the enemy, and in difficult circumstances, by applying what God says about them, trusting in Him to see us through.
In Luke 21 Jesus talks about many terrible things that are going to happen in the world – some of them may even be happening in the times in which we live. But in verse 19 He tells us how to forge ahead in these times. I love the King James translation which says: “In patience possess ye your souls” and the Amplified translation which says : “By your patient endurance, empowered by the Holy Spirit, you will gain your souls.” This means that if our minds, our will and emotions are kept in control and in order, by God’s Word and promises, on an ongoing basis, meaning that we do this with persistence, perseverance and patience, we will not crumble and fall apart under these bad circumstances. We will be able to experience His Presence and peace, no matter what. And that is what I’m striving for!
JOURNALING QUESTIONS:
- Am I allowing the world around me, and the circumstances I find myself in, to dictate how I feel and think?
- Am I constantly renewing my mind with God’s Word, so that I can become more like Christ, in my thoughts, values and actions?
- Is there a situation that I can apply God’s Word to, to find victory over it?
Father, thank You for Your precious Word, which transforms my mind, so that I can become more and more like Christ. Please help me to fix my attention on what Your Word says about every situation, and in each and every circumstance, with patience and perseverance. Please help me not to listen to the lies of the enemy, so that I can walk in victory.
WORSHIP SONG:
The Magnificant, by Phil Driscoll (Album “Make Us One”)
by Susan van Niekerk
