Have you ever wondered why the Apostle Paul commanded us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds?  There are at least two reasons I can think of...

First, the obvious –we have an enemy who lies to us and is seeking to destroy us.  Peter likened Satan to a hungry lion seeking someone to devour.  Jesus said that Satan is a liar and the father of lies and that when he lies he is speaking his native language.  Since Satan is a deceiver and has been practicing his craft from the beginning of human history, he has gotten very good at deception, and we have all been deceived.  He lies to us through our culture, through the books we read, the movies we watch, the ads on television, the music we listen to, our family systems, and even our church politics and theology.  His voice is pervasive, and the nature of being deceived is that we are unaware –the lies we believe seem to us like the truth.  So we act on our lies just as if they were true.  But Jesus came along and stood diametrically opposed to Satan, claiming, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life….”   If we have chosen to follow Jesus, we have chosen to actively and deliberately pursue Truth because Jesus is Truth.  Clearly it is His desire, if we belong to Him and are following Him, that we allow Him to replace lies with truth. 

The second reason we need our minds renewed is because life is brutal and from the time we were very young we have both been hurt and we have hurt others.  We have both sinned and been sinned against.  In either circumstance, we experience unpleasant emotions.  When we sin, we experience emotions like guilt and shame.  When we are sinned against, we experience emotions like anger, rejection, and fear.  Since these are unpleasant sensations, we usually try to either ignore them by stuffing them and pretending they don’t hurt or override them by self-medicating with all sorts of addictive, self-destructive behaviors (drugs, alcohol, sex, etc.).  But, just as undiagnosed cancer can spread poison throughout our entire bloodstream, the decision to stuff or self-medicate our hurt, leaves sin and lies we believe unresolved, spreading emotional pain through every facet of our lives. 

The key to our spiritual maturity, emotional healing and freedom lies in our willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us by the renewing of our minds.  This is not accomplished automatically simply because we are Christians; otherwise Paul wouldn’t have needed to command it.  It is our hope and prayer that you will choose to follow God on this healing journey of mind renewal and transformation.

-Written by Steve Pennell, By His Stripes Ministries- 

Questions To Consider:

Why does every person need mind renewal? 

Does mind renewal happen automatically or do we have to pursue it?

Why might mind renewal result in emotional healing?