Renewing the Mind

[Praxeas]

I was talking to my Pastor about this verse and about strongholds of the mind and how we fall into wrong thought patterns. Then when I was reading my bible I just casually opened up my bible and this was the verse that I opened to. That night my Pastor taught a lesson to the men and one of the verses was this verse also

Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Rom 12:2 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 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
What do you think Paul means by renewal or renewing the mind? How do we do that?

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

I was talking to my Pastor about this verse and about strongholds of the mind and how we fall into wrong thought patterns. Then when I was reading my bible I just casually opened up my bible and this was the verse that I opened to. That night my Pastor taught a lesson to the men and one of the verses was this verse also

Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Rom 12:2 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 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
What do you think Paul means by renewal or renewing the mind? How do we do that?

By studying the word of God and letting it become engrafted in our hearts. The word is able to build us up and give us an inheritance. The word is the sword of the Spirit. By it we can battle and cast down all the thoughts Satan drops in our minds to discourage, accuse, make us become fearful, and by which he distracts us by taking our minds off Christ and causing us to dwell on our circumstances. If we let the word of God dwell in us richly it will be a light unto our pathway. If we think on the word of God it will transform our carnal minds to become more Spiritually minded, more in tune with how the Spirit thinks.

Joyce Meyers has a great devotional book called The Battlefield of the Mind. You may not like Joyce Meyers or agree with her beliefs but this devotional is exceptional.

[Praxeas]

Anyone else?

[Sam]

1 I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].
Romans 12:1-2 from the Amplified Bible

1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Romans 12:1-2 from The Message

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2 NKJV

[Sam]

I've heard Romans 12:1-2 applied this way:

Our spirit was saved when we received forgiveness and asked Jesus in.

Our body will be saved when we put on immortality and incorruption at the resurrection.

Our soul is being saved as we allow Him to renew our mind and grow us.