Rinse & Repeat

“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. (Rom 12:2)

We’ve all heard of recycling. It’s a good concept to reuse what we can and not just be wasteful. Our minds do the same thing – we recycle and repeat old thoughts and patterns, but some of it need to be taken to the trash rather than reused.

The first 11 chapters of Romans are deep theology, but then in chapter 12 Paul shifts from doctrine to behavior. After writing about what we should believe, he now talks about how we should think and live. Our minds control our body so how we think is such an important focus for us. It’s even more important right now as most of us are trying to set up new patterns for the New Year, and for many of us those old thoughts of past attempts and shortcomings are stirred up in our mind.

Paul speaks of transforming ourselves and renewing our mind. The term “transformed” is the Greek word metamorphoo, which forms the root for the English word “metamorphosis.” When a tadpole is changed into a frog or when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, we speak of it as a metamorphosis. That is what God wants for each of His children.

At what stage are you in this Christian transformation? Are you staying in the larva stage? Caterpillar? Baby butterfly? Full-grown butterfly? Where are you on the conformity to Christ growth chart?

There is a couple important observations of the particular Greek verb metamorphoo Paul uses here:

(1) Paul uses the present tense: this is not an “on again, off again” transformation, but a continuous one.(2) The verb is passive, the implication being that the catalyst in the transformation is God.

It’s not something we deal with just one time and conquer – the battle is real and one we have to fight on daily. We don’t do it by ourselves, but through the Holy Spirit by submitting our thoughts and mind to Him. A large part of this is using the Word to renew our minds.

How does this look like in practice? One action we can all do as part of getting new habits down for this new year is to commit to daily time in the Word so you reclaim those parts of your thoughts life that need to be renewed.

By doing this you’ll add important ammunition to your spiritual arsenal to fight the enemy when he seeks to recycle those unhealthy thoughts!

Rinse, and repeat daily.