Peace of Mind

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 NIV

Our thoughts can and will go rogue if we allow them to. Imani, my eight year old daughter, shared with me how sometimes, when she sits at her desk at school, she zones out. We can all relate and high-five a “Hallelujah.” But she went on to say the longer she allowed herself to zone out, the more negative her thoughts got. It made her feel anxious, and tears would start to fill her eyes! Our thoughts, themselves, are just thoughts. But the attention we give to them is powerful.

Paul wrote to the Romans to tell them to change the way they were thinking. The patterns of this world are negative, if not in obvious ways …in ways which have negative effects on our hearts and minds. “We are to consider every part of our existence as an opportunity to serve God,” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the New Testament explains, “True worship of God must always flow from minds that have grasped and been impressed by the truth of God.” The world is bent to “self,” but we are called to be selfless. Through the power of the Holy Spirit living in every single one of us who believes in Christ Jesus as our Savior, we have infinite power to transform and renew our minds. God wouldn’t have put in Scripture for us to digest if it was impossible. And look at the reward for our discipline and obedience to transform and renew our minds …because it takes work!