Renewing Your Mind

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Scripture: Romans 12:2 (NRSV)

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Devotion:

          Most of us, myself included, tend to go with the flow of life. We may not always like where that flow is taking us, but we figure it is better to go with the crowd than to make waves and cause a ruckus. We Christians can be incredibly risk averse. We are afraid that we will be seen as troublemakers or worse by our peers. Who wants to lose friends and be seen as being weird or strange?

          Paul here is calling us, however, to be transformed into something new. He wants us to rely on Christ to eliminate the “go along to get along” thinking that we are so comfortable with. We are to step out and declare the truth we have heard from Jesus in ways that make us feel very uncomfortable. Paul indicates that we are to be changed in our minds that we may discern the truth and not be afraid to speak it to those who need to hear it regardless of the consequences to us.

          How do we accomplish this renewal of the mind. Since some of us are truly introverts like myself and very risk avoidant. Paul gives us some words of encouragement in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (ESV)         “4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” Here Paul describes the battle we all face daily to speak the words Jesus would have us speak for our Lord.

          First, we must note what Paul says in verse 4. That is these supernatural weapons are not to be used in the flesh. That is, we do not seek to destroy our fellow humans with them. Rather they are to be used against arguments not people. That being said Paul makes it clear that this is warfare, and we must be ready to fight these ideas that are raised up against God and the church. We must be prepared to take our thoughts captive to obey Christ so that we will not be affected by the thoughts that bombard us from the culture as they seek to lift up their false doctrines and arguments against God. Let us pray that we may be strong in the Lord:

Prayer: Almighty God, we thank you because you equip all your people to be able to fight for your kingdom and your rule here on earth. I pray that all believers would be renewed in their minds so as to fight the good fight for you. We pray that you would rouse those Christians who would sleep rather than fight. May we see the strongholds of the devil come crashing down as a result of our fighting the good fight for you. Help us take comfort in knowing that the war has already been won through your Son Jesus. Amen.

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