“And do not be 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.” Rom. 12:2
By Michael Adekoya – Dear Reader, the topic of this particular column for this week is, “Renewal Of Mind: God’s Means Of Transformation”. God does not want us to be conformed to the ways of thinking, lifestyles, philosophy, motivations, drives and pursuits of this world but His desire is for us to possess godly thinking, godly lifestyles, godly motivation and godly intentions. But the only Biblical way to achieve this divine goal, is to be transformed by the renewing of our minds through the Word of God.
The Greek word translated “transformed” in the verse of this week’s text is “metamorphoo”. It is the word from which we derive the English word “metamorphosis.” To be transformed from something creepy, crawly, and earth bound into something beautiful that can fly, like a butterfly, we need to metamorphose. The Bible says in 2Cor. 5:17-18b that, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, ……” Unfortunately, this is not a true experience of a lot of Kingdom Citizens. Many are still thinking, behaving, acting, talking and doing things the way they were before they became Christians. The simple reason for this is that they have not renewed their minds, that is, they have not reprogrammed their minds to the new transformation that had taken place in their spirits.
The very moment we gave our lives to Jesus by genuinely believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths that He is the Lord of our lives (Rom. 10:9-10). We became the children of God (John 1:12), our spirits are transformed and joined together with the Lord’s (1Cor. 6:17). We received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 4:6, Eph. 1:13). We are no more children of God’s wrath (Eph. 2:3), but God’s beloved, chosen, kings, priests, holy, peculiar, ambassadors, light of the world, winners, more than conquerors, overcomers, blessed, devil’s masters, dead to sin, alive to righteousness, we received the gift of eternal life, we received the gift of righteousness, we received the divine authority to cause changes to any negative situation, God is no more angry with us but rather we become His mouthpiece, oracles, representatives, joint heirs with Christ and have access to all of God’s inheritance as His children. Unfortunately, very few Believers know these truths, very few Believers see themselves in these ways and very few Believers experience the abundant life that salvation has brought unto us.
The simple reasons for this is, they are yet to renew their minds to who they are in Christ. They don’t know their new identity in Christ. No wonder, they are still walking in the old sins, committing the usual immoralities, experiencing defeats, setbacks, sicknesses, diseases, poverty, failures, oppression, bad dreams and depression like those who are not born again or as they were before they became born again. So God’s only recommended way to achieve this mind renewal is by reading, meditating, memorising, confessing and living the Word of God. The Bible says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Josh. 1:8.
If we will keep our minds stayed on the Lord by meditating on His Word and obeying what it says, then without much efforts or struggle, automatically, your life will begin to change into the likeness of His Word, then our desired and expected transformation, changes, godly characters, fruit of the spirit, holy lifestyles, walking in the power of God, prosperity, abundance, healing, deliverance, success, promotion and so on shall begin to manifest in our lives. The more we stay in His Word and in His presence, the more we shall be transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2Cor. 3:18.
Our hearts are the “spiritual soils”, the Word of God is a “spiritual seed” and the preachers of the Word of God are the “spiritual sowers” (Mark 4:13-20). The way we receive, the way we retain, the way we obey and the way we live the Word of God determines how quickly and noticeably our lives are transformed. Therefore, to experience noticeable transformation, we must receive the Word of God enthusiastically, we must receive it by faith, we must meditate on it regularly and we must put it into practice intentionally. By doing so, we shall surely experience transformation in all the desired aspects of our lives. It is not possible to put the new wine into an old wine skin and expect it not to burst “But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Luke 5:38. As the people of the world usually say, “it is insane to be doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result”.
In conclusion, let us quit trying to achieve spiritual goals in our own “efforts” or “world-way”, let us do it the “God-way”, we surely need to live according to our new identity, to reflect God’s glory, to be worthy ambassadors of Christ here on earth, to exhibit Christlikeness in all we do and to shine as lights in the darkness of this world, to achieve this, we need to be transformed, how, by the renewing of our minds through the Word of God. This is the only method that God Himself has put in place for our transformation. Remain blessed!
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