Renew

Welcome to the first month of 2010. It's the time of year where we all take stock of what blessings and trials the previous year held, what we'd like to accomplish in the year ahead, and, most certainly, what we'd like to do differently this year from last year. For me, 2009 contained many exciting new changes, and 2010 will be hard-pressed to top them! I received a Christmas gift from my boss and his wife and the note that came with it said, "Wow! A new wife, new town, new job, and a new degree all at once—are you tired yet?!" I am tired, but filled to overflowing with the blessings the past year has brought.

As I thanked the Lord for all the opportunities for change and growth in 2009, I also began to ponder what I wanted the Lord to do in my life this year. The word "RENEW" flitted across my mind. 2009 was filled with so much NEW that I would love for 2010 to be about RENEWAL—renewing relationships, old hobbies, a strict exercise schedule, my commitment to serve the Lord wherever He plants me, etc.

Then the Lord brought Romans 12:1-2 to my mind, which says, "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (NASB) Here are a couple of things the Lord brought to my attention regarding the idea of renewal as I studied this passage.

• I should seek to glorify God in all things by offering myself as a sacrifice of worship to God. I must relinquish ownership and control of my life.
  
• I should be so radically and totally changed by a fresh, new, restored state of mind that I am no longer shaped by the world around me.

Since both of these points are completely countercultural in today's world, I had to ask myself a couple of questions to wrap my brain around what the Lord was trying to communicate through this passage. What does this look like in my life? What, practically, does it mean to renew my mind?

• It means out with the old, in with the new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." This verse declares that my state of being is that of a new creation. The new things of new creaturliness replace the old, rotten sin nature. What are some of these new things? Paul writes in Ephesians 5 that goodness, righteousness and truth are characteristics of our new nature. In Colossians 3, Paul also says that we are dead to our old sinful way of living and that we are to put on the new identity we have in Christ. This new self, Paul writes, "is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him." As a result of this new life, renewed life, we are to remember that we are chosen, holy, and beloved of God so that we can put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another and forgiving each other, and above everything else, love. These things are to become daily habits, which will help cement in my mind my identity as a new creature in Christ.
  
• It also means that I have to establish a new thought pattern. So often my actions can appear holy and good, but my thoughts are a mess. One thing I've learned about myself over the last year is how OCD I can be about pleasing others. I am often irrationally terrified that I am going to disappoint someone that I love. These lies are straight from the pit itself, and believing them is not only hindering my ability to trust, please, and obey the Lord, it also has the potential to damage friendships. The solution: I need new thoughts to replace those irrational, damaging, fearful thoughts. How do I do that?

-Destroy speculations and lofty things by taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

-Put the thoughts to death by using my most powerful weapon, Scripture (Ephesians 6:17)

-Memorize whole passages of Scripture to have ready when the thoughts rear their ugly heads (Psalm 119:11)

-Dwell on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, those things that are excellent or praiseworthy" (Philippians 4:8)

If I actively participate in fighting the old nature and sinful thought patterns, before too long my brain will be retrained. And as my mind is being renewed over and over as I allow God's Word to guard my heart and mind, I am transformed into a woman who is not conformed to the world around me, but gloriously and supernaturally equipped to discern what God's pleasing and acceptable will is for me and for every good work that God has prepared for me (2 Timothy 3:17). I don't know about you, but I'm praying expectantly that my life in 2010 will be characterized by the transforming power of a renewed mind that I may be able to bring God glory in the church and among the lost!