Battlefield of the Mind

“Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 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: 1 & 2 (NIV)

What did you notice about this verse?

In Romans, Paul’s first of his epistles, opens in verse one with an urgent call to Christians to live their lives continually striving for holiness and pursuing a life that is pleasing to God. This is their reasonable service for the undeserving mercy God has given them and is true and proper worship. Paul goes on in verse two to instruct Christ’s followers to not conform to the designs of the world, a world that honors the material and the flesh. But instead, instructs Christians to attain dramatic spiritual transformation through a renewing of their minds—in other words: a reconstruction, a rebuilding, a rehabilitating, a restoring, a reconditioning, of their minds—their thoughts, decisions, actions, habits, etc. Paul ensures that Christians are aware that this is the only way to examine and see for themselves the satisfaction brought only by the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God for their lives.
Paul is imploring us, as followers of Jesus, to think as God and not as the World, through an overhaul of our minds, so we can remain steadfast in resisting conformity to the world.
It is also crucial to remember that God does not stop with our minds: In Proverbs 4: 23, God tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” We must primarily be watchful with our hearts, protecting what influences our hearts, much of which is influenced by our minds. Accordingly, to best protect our hearts, ensuring what flows from it is good and pleasing to Jesus, we must equally be sure our minds are being renewed by remaining close to Jesus and thinking more like God, less like the world—day in and day out.

Answer and reflect on the following questions:

What are some ways you can personally work on reconstructing your thoughts and decisions daily—in your walk with the Lord, throughout your day, persistently pursuing the perfect will of God?
Sometimes it can be better to think “small scale” as opposed to “big scale” thoughts and decisions. We are better able to renew our minds, leading to bigger-scale overhauls of the way we think and move more like the Lord. Here is a practical application, for example: are you someone who normally washes your dish immediately or waits for a number of dishes to accumulate? Ae you someone who immediately takes the trash out when it gets full, or do you wait until the bag is overflowing and has reached its capacity? Jesus would likely think and decide to wash the dish right away to ensure the day is orderly.
How will you express your true and proper worship of the Lord better this week than the last?

Let's sit in prayer: 

Heavenly Father, thank you for blessing me with the mind that I have. Give me divine insight into my thoughts, decisions, actions, behaviors, and habits. Renew my mind with each thought that I have and help me to pause and be still in you, so that I might have discernment of my thoughts. Transform me through the renewing of my mind, so that I may not be conformed to the design and pattern of the world. Continue to help me think more like You with every thought, so I may live more like You daily. Help me to pursue true and proper worship with my life. May you have all the Glory, in Jesus name, Amen