We are transformed by renewing our minds. That’s because our battles begin in our minds. It is possible to renew your mind amid confusion. Our heavenly Father often allows us to experience hardship so He can reach us in our vulnerability. To experience change, you must renew your mind. Most people desire to change their situation. However, change is a long process, and many are unwilling to endure it. The reason is that change is difficult. It requires lots of effort; it is nearly impossible to change anything without first learning how to renew your mind.
The Battle Begins in the Mind
Despite your commitment as a Christian, you may have allowed the world’s system of doing things to shape your mind rather than transform it. So, how can you change the things you dislike about yourself? How can you live that quality of life that you promised yourself? Start by renewing your mind.
God has given us the formula for making the desired changes and starting to live a quality life. Romans 12:2 says we should not be conformed to this world but transformed by renewing our minds. Everything we struggle with, no matter how small or immense, begins in our minds. When we renew our minds with Godlike thoughts, our minds produce Godlike actions, habits, and results. This power of God’s thoughts can empower you and fill you with hope for a better future.
What Has Shaped Your Mind?
Something or someone has shaped us into what we are. We have been pounded, shaped, and reshaped like a lump of clay in the hands of a potter. As a result, we live a life contrary to our heavenly Father’s will.
In an attempt to change our lives, we join a local church, hoping to become better people. However, the church alone will not change us into that model person. Such a drastic change must include Jesus, and following Jesus is all about knowing, and knowing is all about growing. We should present our bodies as living sacrifices to the Almighty. It is the least we can do to show gratitude for what Jesus did for us at the cross (Romans 12:1). If you want to reshape your world, here are three positive steps to renew your mind.
Step 1 – Change How You See Yourself
Replace thoughts that you have of yourself with those of the Creator. How you see yourself has caused you to become the product of what others have produced in you. Someone has probably told you that you can never attain “this” because you don’t have “that.” You have allowed the negative words of others to shape you into who you are today.
It may surprise you, but our heavenly Father has very different thoughts for us. You might ask, “How can I know the thoughts of an almighty, all-knowing God?” God reveals His mind throughout the Bible. He is not at all difficult to understand. He reveals His thoughts for us in His written word. In Jeremiah 29:11, He says, “‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ says the Lord, ‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” So, when others tell you that your future looks dim, say these words to yourself: “God has good thoughts concerning me, to give me a good future with hope.”
Step 2 – Recreate Your Mind
To renew the mind is to make it new again. That means we must unlearn everything that we previously learned about God. Although it is difficult to relearn what you have learned, with the Creator, anything is possible, for God’s word has the power to transform.
To be transformed is to be changed completely, usually into something different than the original, both in behavior and appearance. A caterpillar undergoes a process of metamorphosis that changes it into a completely different creature, becoming a beautiful butterfly. In no way does a butterfly look like a caterpillar. Not only does it look different, but it also behaves differently. It is no longer an unsightly landwalker but a magnificent creature of flight.
The Word of God has the power to transform. When you try to renew your mind apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, you only unlearn what you have learned. But even in its self-renewed state, your new mind retains many old memories. Unless you allow the Creator to renew your mind, you will eventually gravitate back to the old you. The old mind is made complete and new. You will look new, and you will have new habits. Amazingly, you cannot explain how the transformation occurred; you only know it did.
Step 3 – Change Your Focus
Do not focus on your present situation. God is our ever-present help in our time of need. When in a dilemma, the worst thing you can do is focus on your current situation. Instead, focus on where you would like to be rather than where you are. The most effective way to change your focus is to focus your mind on the Almighty. If you focus on Him, God has promised to keep your mind in perfect peace.
A renewed mind is necessary to achieve lasting change in your life. Begin your transformational journey by replacing old behavior and habits with new ones. There is no magic formula for this, but the Word of God says you are what you believe you are (Proverbs 23:7).
Step 4 – Allow the Holy Spirit to Help You
It is virtually impossible to permanently renew your mind without the power of the Holy Spirit working on your behalf. The thing that prevents us from experiencing a total and lasting transformation is our blindness. Satan is the ruler of this world’s system. He has blinded the eyes of our understanding so that we cannot understand the truth embedded in the word of God with our carnal minds (2 Corinthians 4:4).
While there is power in words, there is absolute power in the word of God. People around us have shaped our future with negativity. However, faith in God’s word has an outright influence on bringing into existence the things we say. We have the power to reverse that negative power with a renewed mind.
If we have faith in God, we can move mountains. Jesus said: “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23).
Step 5 – Change Your Habits
Changing your habits is an essential step toward renewing your mind. We are creatures of habit; breaking old habits is difficult. Have you ever tried to break an old habit only to be defeated? Here’s what I mean. For many years, I watched my husband struggle to stop smoking. The more he tried to conquer his addiction to cigars, the more he craved them. He tried cutting back on the number of cigars he smoked, only to smoke more than he previously smoked.
One morning, he was awakened from a sound sleep at about 2 a.m. by a heart attack. When we arrived at the Emergency Room, the doctor asked, “Do you smoke?” To my surprise, he answered, “Up until last night!” That was fifteen years ago. Since that day, my husband has never touched another cigar. When I asked how he quit smoking so suddenly, he answered, “I had a change of mind. I didn’t want to smoke anymore.” Instead of resisting the urge to smoke a cigar, he refocused his mind. He told me that instead of focusing on the craving to smoke another cigar, he thought about living.
God created the world through the power of words. Negative talk has shaped and conformed us to doubt. Through the power of God’s word, you can renew your mind and become a new creature. Renewing your mind every day will transform you into the image of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Renewing your mind is a process which will can change the course of your life. But it is up to you to believe the word of God. Only God’s word has the absolute power to change your life.
