January 1, 2013
How eager am I to transform or change? Change is hard, downright difficult for me. And sometimes I can’t even see where I need to change. But I do want to change if I’m not living the way I should or thinking the way I should.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. –Romans 12:2NIV
Now that’s a hard one – my thinking, my mind. This verse says that I am transformed (reminds me of the transformers of the 80s – you know the ones that went from a prehistoric animal to a man, etc.) by the renewing of my mind. So it’s my thoughts that are misguided, it’s my thoughts that encourage me to mold myself after the culture around me, to the TV shows I watch, the websites I visit, the language I hear used at work or the reactions that have been engrained in me from childhood.
But how do I recognize wrong thoughts? I’m not sure, but I am thinking that first I need to become conscious of what I am thinking, saying, watching, doing. I need to catch myself thinking! And since I am a Christ follower, I need to match up those thoughts to what the Bible says.
One verse that should help determine if my thinking is good thinking or stinkin’ thinkin’ is Philippians 4:8 ..whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
If what I’m thinking and what this verse says don’t equal, then I need to do some serious self-examination – the truth is, sometimes I don’t want to hear and accept what the Bible says to think on – I want to be able to be mad, to jump to conclusions, to think the way I want to think. So it’s a bit of a fight until I make a conscious decision to recognize and honestly confess stinkin’ thinkin’ to God, then ask for his power to help me to think the way I should.
Then this verse says that whenI put this into practice I well be able to know what God’s will is in each situation. Wow, wouldn’t that be awesome to understand his will!
Hoping that 2013 is a year that sees my(our) minds renewed in ways I(we) can’t imagine and understanding his will better than I(we) ever thought possible.
What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts!
Faithpondering 