Day 3 ~ How do we make the new stick?

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. (ESV)

Yesterday we talked about what renewing means.

And we asked this question - after you've been renewed, how do you make it stick?

The answer: You don't.

You don't do anything.

You don't have the power to renew your mind at all.

But if you've accepted the work of Christ on the cross, you do have the power inside you.

It's very interesting to me to note that this verse (Romans 12:2) was not written to unbelievers. An unbeliever doesn't have a chance. They haven't been made new in the first place. The Spirit has not come to dwell inside them, so the renewing of their mind is not an option.

But once we are have been made new in Christ, renewing our minds is the key to avoid being conformed to this world.

And this renewing will be an ongoing process.

If I live to be 112, I'll still need to take an active role in the renewing of my mind. I'll never finish the job. My renovations will only be complete when I leave this body behind and open my eyes to see His face.

This is hard for me, because I'm a task oriented kind of girl. I like to start - and finish - projects. That's what makes laundry such an ordeal for me. It is NEVER done.

Never.

Ever.

And neither is this. I can focus on renewing my mind for 31 days, but if I don't make it a priority - every day - for the rest of my life, the new won't stick.

I'll be just like those makeover participants we talked about yesterday. I'll be wandering around, remembering what it felt like to be all refreshed and reinvigorated and renewed. But I'll still be the same old me.

So why bother?

Because renewing our minds is possible.

We have the ultimate mind-makeover specialist at work in us. The Holy Spirit has the power and the desire to transform our thinking.

The key is to let Him do it. To get out of His way and allow Him to work.

And not to clutter up His work area with junk.

Uh-oh. Now I've messed around and gone to meddling. We'll talk about the junk later.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us. But He doesn't take control of our minds and force us to sing hymns all day. He doesn't turn us into scripture spouting robots. (In case you're worried - hymn singing, scripture spouting automatons isn't what He's after - hang in there with me).

He is God. And He has the power to do whatever He wants.

But He waits for us to turn Him loose.

To give Him the keys to the house. To sit down in His holy chair and allow Him to start snipping away all the things that drag us down, to shave off the beards of worry, deception and fear that we have allowed to grow for far too long.

When we relinquish control to Him, He colors our lives with His truth.

And when we repeat the process, day after day, the new starts to stick.

Tomorrow, we'll be talking about why this daily relinquishing of control is so stinking hard. Please join us!