Renewing the Mind

Paul beautifully expressed this thought when he said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

The word “transformed” is from a Greek word presenting the idea of a “metamorphosis or a transfiguring of one’s life.” The renewing of the mind is a process whereby defiling and debilitating issues are systematically and progressively addressed. This results in the unfolding freedom of Christ emerging like a butterfly from a cocoon.

Helping people to obtain this freedom is a rewarding experience but one that requires persistence and patience. It requires compassion on the part of the one ministering and a transparent compliance by the one being ministered to.

Although some people know very well what their problems are, many haven’t a clue. They know that they should be having much more freedom than they are currently realizing but don’t know how to go about getting it. It is for this reason that James admonished that we should “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed” (James 5:1-6).

The idea in James has less to do with getting things off one’s chest and more to do with transparently laying issues out on the table so that another may examine them to discover the roots of one’s problems.

People are reluctant to be so open with the issues of their lives with the reasons why being quite obvious. They are fearful of judgmentalism, gossip, intrusiveness, and ineptness by those who are seeking to help them. The pride factor is another very significant player in people’s reluctance. Regardless of the protestations, in most cases, people are usually quite inefficient in helping themselves unravel the issues of their lives. Most often it takes another to help. Why?

There is usually a crisis that prompts people to seek help. However, in seeking help, they are blinded by their own subjectivity. They simply can’t see beyond their immediate sense of urgency. They bring “felt needs,” sharing only those things they consider to be of importance. It takes the objectivity of a person who is not immediately involved in the issues of their lives to get beyond the immediate and to expose the root causes underlying the problems being addressed, i. e. their “actual needs.”

Most crises in people’s lives have a historic beginning. Many times they have forgotten much of the past in which their crisis is rooted. In other cases they don’t make the connection of their current problems with issues of the past.

For some, this may sound too much like psychology but, if so, it is because psychologists have taken over biblical principles not the reverse. The Bible delves deeply into the motivations and factors involved in the bondage people suffer. It is a matter of urgency that we, the body of Christ, waken to the crisis of the day, discover our potential to help others find freedom, being the ministers He has called us to be.

Hopefully, you will feel the same urgency that I do in these very perilous times as we do our part in making sure the Bride is prepared for the return of Christ. That it may “not have spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).

Jeff

• Jefferson H. and Norma R. Floyd, CO-directors • Jubilee International • P. O. Box 572 • Noblesville, IN 46061 • Copyright November 2007 by Jefferson H. Floyd. All rights reserved.