Mind Renovation is a New Show on HGTV

"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." Romans 12:2

Yesterday I posted abut the first section of Romans 12:2 and today I'm focusing on the second part: "but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" This part is all about change. Yup, change.

Transformed means a change of moral character for the better. Renewal means a renovation, complete change for the better. Mind means comprising alike the faculties of perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging, determining.

So based on these definitions my perceptions and understandings will change for the better. I like the word renovation. I like HGTV and watching the shows where they do renovations. They take some ugly room or home and change it for the better. Sometimes I don't care for the changes, but I can't deny it is better than it was.

God performed the ultimate renovation on my heart when He choose me to be His. He still is at work at it, but if our heart change was an HGTV series people wouldn't be able to deny the change He has made in our hearts. It is a work in progress. But He doesn't just change our hearts and leaving us with what Joyce Meyers calls "our stinkin' thinkin'". He gives opportunities for our minds to be renovated too.

I also really like that it is about our perceptions and understandings. Perception means the ability to see, hear, and become aware of something through the senses. Understanding means to comprehend. The two can go hand in hand but they are not the same thing. He makes it possible for my morals to change for the better. He makes it possible for my perception to change for the better. He makes it possible for my understanding to change for the better. As those things change my feelings, my judgments, and my determinations change as well. That's really good since my feelings can be off if my perceptions are off, and sometimes they are way off. My judgments can change when I understand more. I might be really determined one way or the other and it is nice to know that as I grow they can change. I can think of instances in my life, some of them quite recent instances, where He has changed my perception and my understanding.

Yes, the verse is about me not being conformed; me renewing my mind; and me being able to determine what the will of God is, but He does it. I have to give permission for God to do the work in me. Sometimes I wish that I would have just shut my mouth and not agreed to Him working, but deep down I'm glad that I did agree. I want to be more like Christ. I want to know His will. I want to know Him.

I hope my renovation HGTV show is a success, because it means that He has changed me for the better.

Do Not Conform

"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." Romans 12:2

Okay, it's been over 2 months since I have written a devotion. I can say that I have been spending  lot of time in the Word so not really sure why not. However, I have been examining verses and studying the meaning of the words in the Hebrew or Greek depending on what Testament they are in. The above verse is the one that I looked at today, well part of it.

"Do not be conformed to this world..." is the part I found something interesting. Armed with the website Blue Letter Bible, which has Thayer's Greek Lexicon for definitions with the Greek meanings, which goes into detail on how the word is used in various verses, I examined this short portion. I looked up the words "conformed" and "world". Conformed, in this verse, means to conform one's self to another's pattern. World, in this verse, means men controlled by the thoughts and pursuits of this present time.

I know most who read or quote this verse focus on the world part, and rightly so. Many people, Christians included, are not as careful about what influences they allow in their lives as they should. Movies, TV shows, books, activities, well almost all areas of life have worldly influences that we buy into too easily. I know there have been things I have had to give up because I felt that I was allowing influences in that were worldly.

I was struck more by the word conform and its definition. I know the focus is about not conforming to the world, but I took the meaning to an even more personal level. There are things I don't like about myself, pretty much like everyone else, and I tend to focus on them. I see others who don't have the same flaws, or at least don't seem to, and I want to be like them. I start to think more like them, act more like them, and become less me.

This verse reminds me that I am suppose to be careful to be me. God created me to be me, the me He created. I might have many flaws, but I also have many positives. He has given me talents and a personality that make me special. He has given me gifts and a purpose that I need to walk out to help others and bring Him glory. Conforming me to be like someone else or the world makes me someone else, and I need to be His girl, flaws and fabulousness. (That's my word!)