Have you ever heard people saying, “I know I have to read the Bible but you know, for some reason, I am not a strong Christian?”
I have because I was one of those people who always promise to pray hard and read the Bible often. What was the result?
Guilt and condemnation which led me into thinking, “Well, there are some who are strong in reading the Bible and praying. Some like me are just wondering Christians, doing their own business.”
Why?
I thought I “had to” do certain things to be a Christian; or to prove that I was a Christian.
I didn’t know that I was actually growing into the likeness of Christ Jesus one step at a time.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:28-29 ESV
Wow! Did you see that?
“to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
That why the Bible says, at the end, we all who are in Christ looks like Jesus:
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2 NKJV
Amen!
But our “confirmation” to the image of Christ only starts from the mind. Our way of thinking and reasoning will little by little starts to conform with Christ. Then actions will follow.
The problem with most of us is that we get busy in creating those “acceptable” Christian duties and we struggle with serious sins. Why? Our mind is where it used to be. And the way we view, interpret and understand this life is exactly like a person who is dead in his/her sin (Ephesians 2:1-3).
The word of God says,
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 NASB
Until our pattern of thinking aligns to the word of God, we will continue to desire, want and experience the same things that worldly people do.
That means, Christianity should start from the mind, not from the body.
“be transformed” by the way, means, the word “transform” came from Latin “metamorphosis” – a process by which a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.
Once a caterpillar lives certain days, it “stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis. Within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly or moth.”
Wow! Did you see that? “Within its protective casing” – all changes in a Christian starts from the mind. What starts from the mind no one can stop. What starts from the body dies out with sinful lifestyles because it has absolutely no root.
So, if you feel like you find yourself acting and speaking like people of this dark world, maybe you did not let the word of God take root in your mind, shaping and molding your thoughts and intentions.
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NASB
For “thoughts and intentions of the heart” – are the roots of all actions and lifestyles. ///