“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
The renewing of the mind can happen both in the positive and negative. Obviously, Romans 12:2 is about positive mind renewal, but the reality is that when we give our inner agreement (our “amen”) to a belief, mind renewal takes place and it impacts our future experiences.
I used to only “renew my mind” with my feelings and experiences.
- I felt weak, so I renewed my mind with the belief I was weak.
- I struggled to have heart connections with people; therefore, I renewed my mind with the lie I did not do relationships well.
- I used to think that certain geographical areas were hard for the gospel, so I renewed my mind with that belief and created an even more difficult experience for myself.
I would passively agree with these feelings and experiences, regularly concluding they were the truth. Each agreement would strengthen the negative stronghold in my mind, and my future would be negatively transformed by these beliefs.
The greatest strongholds blocking the purposes of God are in our minds, and there is nothing passive about how we are to think, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
- The mind is a battleground (it’s the real warfare)
- We are to cast down arguments and high things (lies) trying to exalt themselves above the knowledge of God
- We need to take every thought captive – they are not going to willingly surrender
Truly, the highest level of spiritual warfare is to believe (agree with truths) higher than what we are feeling and experiencing. We don’t deny our experiences and feelings; we just don’t get our beliefs from them. There is a higher way. We are called and empowered to believe in the “God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17). As we intentionally think and speak (renew our minds) with God’s promises and our biblical identity, we will transform our future into those things. As we embrace the heart of Joel 3:10, “Let the weak say I am strong,” we will see transformation.
adapted from a blog Nov 5th 2021 by Steve Backlund