Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2
Be made new in the attitude of your minds.
Ephesians 4:23
Sounds pretty, doesn’t it? I’ve read these words countless times on Thomas Kinkade calendars. Printed beside the cozy little house, painted high on a cliff, these verses come across so poetically. Ahhh, so beautiful.
Here’s what goes through my mind when I read these verses:
AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
Why is being “transformed by the renewing of your mind” so difficult? Why can I not wake up in the morning with a strong resolve (as I so often do) and go to bed that evening with the satisfaction of having lived a truly “transformed” day (which I so often do not)? Being made new in the attitude of my mind is no simple task.
I recently finished the book, The Rest Of God, by Mark Buchanan. In the second chapter, Buchanan writes:
“Our lives shuttle between an alteration of – if only, what if, and as soon as: If only I had more money. As soon as I get a different job. What if my spouse loved me more? If only my child wasn’t rebellious…As soon as…What if…”
We find it difficult being transformed because we just want to be transformed. We want instant results. We want a quick-fix. But we hardly want to trudge the uphill path of discipline. “Making an effort” is usually that element I leave out of the equation.
Nothing really changes until our minds do. Paul tells us to “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). It may sound difficult, but what if we could live with a full awareness of what our minds are taking in? An awareness of what we are communicating? An awareness of the impact of our actions?
If we want to shed the old self and put on the new…if we truly want to be transformed…it will take more than getting a warm, fuzzy feeling. It will take action.
