Changing Our Minds

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, BUT LET GOD TRANSFORM YOU into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Romans 12:2-3 NLT

Somewhere along our life's journey, we realize the extreme influence of the people we hang out with, TV shows, news feeds, and social media. As Christians, it can be a constant battle to not compare ourselves with others and the world's standards. 

The US Surgeon General has recommended a health warning label for social media, citing

negative consequences he's observed by talking with students, including feelings of "endless comparison," the "feeling of being addicted" and "difficulty having real conversations on platforms that too often fostered outrage and bullying."

 It's my observation that it's not just kids who are \negatively affected. We need to check ourselves. It is a battle. It can be an addiction. The false realities that tend to be portrayed can lead to depression and anxiety. 

The Good News is, we're not the ones changing our minds. God is. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, BUT LET GOD TRANSFORM YOU into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You for never leaving us alone to try to accomplish what only You can do in us, for us and through us by Your love, mercy and grace. Change our hearts and minds, Father. Give us clean hands and pure hearts. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

A Change of Mind

 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ. And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

Colossians 3:1-7 The Message Bible

You are probably aware of the saying, "It is a woman's prerogative to change her mind." What you may not know is that there are dozens of discussion groups about it - most of them asking for the definition of prerogative. Loosely defined, it's a right or privilege reserved for a specific individual or group of individuals with a certain rank or position. The dictionary lists several types of groups or individuals of rank, but the common denominator is that they are considered to have a higher status than the average Jane or Joe. They decide how things will be done. It's their prerogative. They tend to look at life from their vantage point and exercise their prerogatives accordingly. They think of themselves as "Large and in Charge!"

Now, before you're too hasty to agree that that sort of privilege is cool, let's re-read our text for today. So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't [...be] absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, .... See things from his perspective. 

Do you want to live life according to your prerogative? ...doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy? That is the way of death for your soul (verse 5). Or - will you do as James suggests in James 1:5? If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. You can't be wiser than God, so let's do life according to His Word. Let's do it from Christ's perspective. You know - Change our minds.

Prayer:

Father,
           We want to pursue those things over which Your Son presides. Give us focus, with eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart that hastens after You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen