“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.”
If one is to be transformed, it will have to be by the renewing of his or her mind. Everything that we do begins in our minds. When Jesus was confronted about not washing his hands before He ate, He responded by telling His detractors that we are not condemned by what we put into ourselves but by what comes out of ourselves. This, obviously, is about being careful what we think because what we think will become our actions. If we think evil thoughts, the result will be evil actions. This is not to say that every thought becomes an action, but it is to say that whatever action we take comes from our minds. What is a renewed mind? A renewed mind is a mind that seeks that which is good. This means that we will need to be careful about what we watch and read. Paul wrote about this in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report: if there by any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” You will have to admit that if we put our minds on Paul’s list of things in this verse, we must have a renewed mind. But this mind does not come from “turning over a new leaf.” All that you get when you turn over a leaf is the other side of the leaf, which is remarkably like the side that was flipped. One can change his or her mind and start thinking good things, but the transformation that is mentioned in our text will not take place by merely deciding to live a better life. A renewed mind is a mind that seeks to discover the will of God. The bottom line is that a Christian should be aware of the decisions that he or she makes. “What does God want me to do” is the mantra of the renewed mind. It is not always easy to know what God’s will is. For example, we can think that because something really works to our advantage, it must be the will of God. Well, a person with a renewed will read the Bible and he or she will know that God’s will did not always work to the advantage of His people. For example, if the Jews had been able to vote on the direction of their trek from Egypt to Canaan, they would probably have tried to avoid the Red Sea. A renewed mind will accept that one of the purposes of God’s will in our lives is to grow our faith. Our faith does not grow when everything always goes good for us. Follow God’s will whether what He wants will be for your worldly advantage or advancement. I sincerely hope that I have made plain to you what a renewed mind is, and that I did not muddy the waters for you. Put your faith and trust in Jesus, and allow Him to give you a renewed mind. Bro. Joe
1 Comment
8/4/2017 07:17:27 pm
Thanks, for taking the time to share the Bible with Us!!!
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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