Reset Your Mind
Reflection By Bevelle Godoy
At the beginning of Romans 12, Apostle Paul challenges us to "not to conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds." Renewing literally means renovating, and to us, it occurs in a kind of transformation. Our mind needs a lot of renovation for us to truly understand God's presence. We have to stop focusing on the brokenness and damages that we had in the past. We may be the ones bullied during our childhood and we have forgotten how to forgive. We may also be the perennial whiner who never stop complaining and do not see the beauty of the life God has given us. We may also be too obsessed with ironing out every single thing that comes to our life because we are afraid that something will go wrong; we do not trust Him enough. Worse, we are so envious of others that we forget to appreciate our own blessings.
As to Romans 12:1-2, we are reminded of being good through thoughts transformation as it says, “I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer 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.”
This is how He wants us to be. God wants us to start a clean and pure mind that translates to a genuine heart, transcending to truthful actions. But how do we do it?
The first thing to do is to take time to renew our minds by testing our thoughts. Phil 4:8, states “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” We have to test our minds to think only of what is beautiful, sincere, and positive. If we keep lovely pictures of goodness in our thoughts then those are the same images that will come to life.
The second thing to do is to capture our thoughts. This means turning negativity into positivity just that this thought would not control our minds but instead control our actions. There are so many bad thoughts that we can think of every day toward a person and different situations. These thoughts can create anger, sadness, anxiety, and depression. Instead of harboring these cynical pondering, we may be more optimistic and believe that God has created all things bright and beautiful.
The third thing we can do is fix our thoughts. According to Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” The earthly things usually distract us and keep our thoughts away from God's best. Materialism and greed will never make us realize how God can actually provide us lavishly if we focus our minds on Him.
And the last thing to do is to put all three things into practice. Consistency is always an issue to resetting our minds and doing good. The best way to battle this is to practice and prepare ourselves for the test. We may have the desire to restore our thoughts but we do not commit ourselves to it. Place our trust in God and ask for the Holy Spirit to make it happen for us.
PRAYER
Dear God, I humbly ask You to reset my mind. I want to live a Christlike life but this will not happen if I do not have the Holy Spirit to guide me. Let your word enlighten me in everything that I will do and be present in my life forever and ever. Amen.