The Renew(ing)

 Romans 12:2

"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".

I want us to look at the word renewing.

And I want us to pay close attention to the ING part. 

Now, I might have been out of school for a very long time, but I remember in my language class that adding ING to a verb means that it is something happening in the present. 

It is currently happening. 

The Bible didn't say to renew your mind, but it said by the renewing. 

This means that every day, every moment, constantly you are to be changing the way you process your thoughts. 

When you read the Word of  God and learn, constantly we are to take out self/sin and transform into the Godly beings that we ought to be. 

We are to keep renewing our minds, keep changing how we perceive things, and transforming into the way we are supposed to be because whatever a man thinketh so will he be. (Proverbs 23:7)

The more you change your mind about the way you ought to be you would find yourself becoming more and more Christ-like. 

Now, the thing is when you are in your renewing process, people are going to think you're backtracking on what you might have said. They're going to think odd of you because what you did and said before in the past, is not what you're doing or saying now. 

You're not living up to the expectations of who they thought you would be. 

Tell them, it's because you are 'Renewing your mind'.

You're going to find yourself changing rapidly the way you talk about and treat others. How you present yourself. 

How you speak in general because now that you have read the Word of God and are applying it to your spirit, your mind and body are being renewed in the process. 

To be renewed you're still the same person, yes, but you are releasing the old version of yourself for a new, more advanced better version of yourself piece by piece.

In this process you might not even recognize yourself because of how you once reacted to certain things, you don't anymore. 

What I like about this renewing process is that it doesn't stop. 

It's not a one-and-done deal. 

It is constantly going on. We are constantly reconstructing who we are. 

So, we could never think that where we are now is our finish line. 

We still got layers to peel back. We still got roads to turn onto. 

We still got time to become who God wants us to be. We are not in our final forms and God understands that. 

He wants us to continue because He knows that the moment we think we have become what we're supposed to be would be a lie. 

He knows that we'll even stop to the version of ourselves that is not even the bare minimum of who we can be. 

That we won't even make it to the version that He knows we should be. 

Matthew 23:12

"For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted" 

God wants us to renew our minds constantly because it keeps us in a state of humility. 

It keeps us in the place of "Hey, I know I'm not where I need to be but I'm still trying". 

"I know where I'm not but I'm going to keep going". 

It keeps us from judging others because we ourselves know that we are still evolving and changing. 

Renewing is going to cause us to forgive and understand one another. It's going to lead us to love one another for real. 

Caring and bettering one another genuinely. 

It's going to give us the self-evaluations because we're going to have to look within to renew. 

We're going to be the first ones to see the logs with our own eyes. 

I encourage you today to renew your mind, constantly. 

Constantly break down the ancient thoughts that have placed themselves there stubbornly and aren't right. 

Constantly evolve. 

It's going to have you on the outside of the crowd, but continue to renew your mind of what is right and aligning with God. 

~TheRay