“
… there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes” (Ep 4:23, NLT)
If
we are going to act correctly, then we have to think correctly. If
self-gratification and self-preservation are at the center of our thinking, we
will continue to make wrong decisions, take wrong actions, and say the wrong
things. It is about far more than what we think - it goes to how we think, what
is at the center of our thinking. (From What
Were You Thinking…? Part 1)
In
Ephesians 4 we are told to put off the old man and put on the new man, but
sandwiched in between is the admonition to “be renewed in the spirit of your
mind.” Without our minds being renewed
(being made new again by a redefining of what we know as truth and what our set
course of action is to be based upon that truth), our motivation will continue
to be self-preservation and self-gratification. We will continue to act out of the
old man instead of the new man who is constantly being renewed into the image
of Christ.
If
we want to act (respond) out of the new man and live a transformed life that
brings glory to God, we will have to move in our thinking from
self-preservation and self-gratification to self-sacrifice. Romans 1:1-2 says “
Therefore, 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. (Emphasis
mine)
Living
a transformed life requires that we must think differently. What we know as
truth must be in agreement with the Word of God. We can no longer be the center
of our lives and thoughts with everything revolving around us, but God must be
at the center. Our decisions must be based upon His will and not how it will affect
us and our lives.
We
must think His thoughts after Him, and desire that He receive glory in all that
we think, say, and do. We must sacrifice our self-life, the old man/nature, for
His glory and live out the sacrificed life, the new man/nature, which is
constantly being transformed into the likeness of Christ.
