I have faced many challenges in my walk as a Christian. The most difficult has been changing the way that I think. When I became saved, I became a new creation. However, the new creature I became still had a lot of baggage from the old creature taking up space. When I was reading Romans today, I read what Paul said about offering our bodies to God as a living sacrifice.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1 (NIV)

How do we offer our bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices? By not conforming to the pattern of this world. We do not conform to the pattern of this world when our minds are renewed.

Do not conform 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 12:2 (NIV)

How do we renew our minds? Paul says here in verse 2 not to conform to the pattern of this world. Before we were in Christ, there was a way that we thought, and there was a way that we saw things. We saw everything from a worldly perspective. Even Christ, we saw through the lens of the world. However, now that we are in Christ, we can see with the eyes of the Spirit. We can reason with the mind of Christ.

Just as our muscles become used to working a certain way when we work them out, so do our minds work similarly. We have to retrain the muscle memory of our thought processes. Thus, our old ways of thinking need to change. How do we change our old way of thinking and thereby renew our minds?

Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Philippians tells us to think about things that are noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. The only way that we can change the pattern of our thinking is to change what we think about and how we think about it. For example, if you think about someone who hurt you, what do you think? Do you think about how they hurt you, how you felt, why they hurt you, etc.? These are aspects of a situation. They do not define the person in Christ. Whether or not they are in Christ or not. It is logical, however, to think in a pattern of behavior like this. It’s akin to touching a hot stove, and going through a certain set of emotions, responses, etc. in the body. This, however, is in your mind. The thought of touching a hot stove and the consequences thereof are unpleasant. As they should, to avoid such a mistake in the future. However, I don’t believe this is how God wants us to see other people. When we identify someone by the pain they’ve caused in our lives, it’s like identifying them by their sin. This is not how God sees people.

Therefore, when you think about the person who hurt you. You can change the pattern of thinking from the hurt of the situation and such to something else. For example, you might think of all the good times you had with that person or anything good about them. When an unpleasant situation comes to mind, I pray for the person. If they’re unsaved, I pray for their salvation. I pray for their deliverance. I pray for healing, and I pray for blessing in their lives, all according to the will of God.

Our emotions work the same way. A situation arises, and we feel a certain way about it. I see a dog. I remember I was attacked by a dog when I was a child. It was a traumatic event that brought much pain into my life. Therefore, when I see a dog. I am afraid. My spouse wants to talk. Oh no! Whenever someone wants to talk, it’s not about anything good. Anxiety, fear, angst, depression, hate, and the like, all stem from behavioral thought patterns.

We also adopt physical behavior based on the things we see and how we used to behave. Do you like sports? Did you use to sit around and drink while watching the big game? Every cause-and-effect behavior starts in our minds. We enter into a state of being, and then we respond to that state of being in a way we are accustomed to. Often, we may need to stop the physical behavior, whatever it might be, to change the thinking that accompanies it. That is, we need to change the state of being. If watching the big game promotes thoughts about drinking, then don’t watch the game, or change something about the state of being. For example, watching the game with people who don’t drink.

When we interrupt a pattern of thinking and put into its place a new pattern of thinking, this is part of the process of renewing our minds. There’s very little that we do without first thinking about it. Problems stem from all of the thinking we’ve already done. As Christians, we have the mind of Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit. Against such things, no power can stand. Will we take advantage of the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit within us? Or, will we continue to live life like mindless automatons that do not know the salvation of Christ?

The Lord has given us His word. The Holy Bible. In this Bible, we have life, and we have the means to answer any situation in life that presents itself to us. God has also given us unrestricted access to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. We can reach out any time of the day or night in prayer. We cannot know the mind of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit within us without knowing God. When we offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices, we are giving up everything to be filled with something better. Something holy and pure, without spot or blemish.

The only way to start the process of renewing your mind is by making it up in your mind to do so.

Do you know God? God knows you, and He loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, right now, and He wants you to know Him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, be freed from death, and live eternally with Him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation today:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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