Renew Your Mind

Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

When you are born again, God begins the process of sanctifying you: progressively conforming you to the image of Christ and removing the patterns of the world, sin, and the old way of life from you. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). One of the primary ways God does this is through the renewing of your mind by His Word. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” As your mind is renewed by the truth of God’s Word, your perspective, desires, and way of living are increasingly brought into alignment with Christ. This is why we are called to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), becoming increasingly “rooted and built up in him” (Colossians 2:6-7).

The Word of God is in stark contrast with the ways of the world. The more you immerse yourself in it consistently, the more your mind is transformed to align with the truth of God’s Word. As your mind and perspective are changed, your desires and passions begin to change as well. You begin to see things differently, desire what is pleasing to God, and reject what once seemed normal to you. Remember, we are called to live new lives in Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have been “buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). This is part of our new life and calling in Christ Jesus: to no longer live according to the patterns of the world, but to be “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:6-7).