A Mind Renovation Leads to Inward Transformation

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2, KJV)

What does it mean to renew your mind with the Word of God? Simply put, it means to re-new: making your mind new again, and using God's Word to do it.

In the book of Joshua, while God prepares Joshua to lead the children of Israel after Moses dies, God speaks to Joshua about the law, saying, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success" (Joshua 1:8, KJV). In this verse, God is actually giving His people a paradigm for how to handle His Word, part of the paradigm highlighting the importance of purposefully thinking on the Word on a continual basis.

In Romans 12:2, the word "renewing" is used for the Greek word "anakainosis," which means "renovation." Often, when we think of something being renovated, we think of reconstructive work being done in a building. When a thorough renovation of a building takes place, it includes making major changes to things like the plumbing, electricity, and insulation; it involves repairing or replacing things that are worn out or broken, as well as cleaning up waste and debris. A renovation requires more than just a slight or random adjustment of things, but deliberate, significant changes and replacements have to be made. Likewise, renewing (renovating) your mind with God's Word does not mean to take what God says and to merely include it along with all of your own thought patterns and ideas in an unfocused or purposeless kind of way, or in a way that attempts to guard against any major modifications, but it means to receive the Word and to intentionally reject any thoughts or ideas in your mind that are contrary to that Word, in order to make real changes in the way that you think.

As an illustration, suppose that you have an old couch in your living room, a couch that is no longer fit for use because it is tattered and worn; or, imagine that you have an old couch that is still quite adequate for use, but because you are remodeling your living room to give the entire room a new flair or feel, the old couch is no longer suited for the room. In either case, when you purchase a new couch for the living room, you are not going to bring in the new couch and just stack it on top of the old one, nor are you going to continue to use the old couch while the new one sits alongside it. Instead, you will get rid of the old couch, so that the new couch will have an unshared space in the living room. Renewing the mind is similar in that it does not mean to accept God's Word as a mere add-on or an enhancement to what you have always thought, if what you have always thought does not align with the Word, but it means to reject any beliefs or viewpoints that do not line up with the Word, acknowledging the Word's ultimate authority so that you can truly think in light of what God says.

Isaiah 55:8, 9 reads, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (KJV). God is omniscient, all-knowing and all-seeing (Psalm 147:5; Hebrews 4:13), and He does not think the way that humans do, so simply trying to combine or blend God's thoughts with your old thoughts is not sufficient. Your mind must be thoroughly renewed, renovated, with the Word in order for a true inward transformation to take place.

I Corinthian. 2:16 tells us that we have the mind of Christ. Learning to think with Christ's mind, to think with God while constantly staying in the place of prayer (I Thessalonians 5:17), is an invigorating process, worth all of the effort of renovation that we can put into it as we are continually transformed to be more like Christ.

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