Transformational Thought
I was at a luncheon the other day and spoke casually with three strangers. Even though they were separate encounters, a common thread ran through all three conversations. Sadly, they all appeared to be living the “old” life. I did not have a talk with them about their relationship with God or their spirituality … but the unhappiness and hopelessness of their present life strongly flavored their responses.
When I speak at retreats or workshops, I make a comment that resonates deeply with most people: “When you become a Christian, you are a new creation with a new eternal destination and new potential on this earth, but you don’t get a brain transplant!” People’s jaws usually drop. You see, we still have our old brain with all its memories, skills, and baggage. And that is why we still sin, even though we have the perfect and powerful Holy Spirit residing in us. If we were perfect and complete at the moment of salvation, God wouldn’t call us to go from milk to solid food. We would already be at the solid food level of maturity.
But sadly, we aren’t mature believers when we are saved, hence the term “Born Again,” which impies babes just starting out with a long road towards achieving maturity. Isn’t this something we all struggle with? Unless we are diligent with our thoughts and focus, we will stay immature. I know that when I became a Christian, I didn’t get a brain transplant. Old wiring, connections, thought patterns, Satan’s strongholds, memories, hurts, wounds, misinterpretations, and experiences were still in there, distorting my view of everything.
If you, too, are living the old life, remember God offers you new life—the life of Christ. The Resurrection affirms the promise Christ made. For He offered his life to give us a new life. Choosing Christ as your Savior is the first step. We are free to be the man or woman He meant us to be when He created us. But you have to have a strategy to continue the journey and the call to renew your mind to develop the Mind of Christ.
Today, when you are stressed or feel down about yourself or your circumstances, stop and ask, “Am I looking at this through the me-centered lens of the old life, or the God-centered lens of my new life?” Adjusting your perspective by yielding to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible will stimulate a brain transplant by actually re-wiring your brain chemistry. Paul and Peter call it renewing your mind. Don’t you want a brain transplant, or at least an upgrade? Letting God be your ultimate psychiatrist and neurosurgeon is your decision, so choose well.
Prayer
Dear Father God, I thank You for the offer and the guarantee of new life. I know what it’s like living with a heart of stone … going through the motions … living in a state of fear and worry. Thank You for turning my heart of stone into a heart that’s alive and able to hope. Thanks for Your work in my life to purge the old self, and renew my mind. Even though I sometimes give up, thanks for not giving up on Your goal of finishing the work You started in me. Help me rely on You to rewire my brain according to Your design. It only makes sense since You are the designer of my brain and when I use Your instruction manual, my brain works better. I pray this in the name of the reason for my new life, Christ Jesus; and all God’s children say – AMEN!
The Truth
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24