Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Romans 12:2 ESV

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1. First, I want you to know that you're not alone[CS2]. if you've ever had mental or emotional crisis or if you've ever struggled with anxiety or depression or worry or fear, if you've ever laid awake at night with your mind racing, or you've struggled with worry, I want you to know that you're not alone. I've been there and so have most of us at one time or another.

2. Second, I want you to know that you're not "weak". [CS3]Part of the reason I'm embarrassed to tell you about my own struggle is because I used to think that things like anxiety or depression or having an emotional or mental crisis would mean I was "weak". And I have always considered myself a pretty strong person. So how could a strong person get to that place? The answer is because I was living, and more importantly, I was thinking, in a way that left me weakened. And maybe someone just needs to hear this today: there's a big difference between being "weak" and being "weakened." A toothpick is weak, a giant Sequoia tree is strong...but it can be weakened if it doesn't get the right nutrients or enough water or if it's attacked by parasites. You're not weak...but there might be things going on in your life that have weakened you. The good news is even if you're weakened, you can be strengthened.

3. And that leads [CS4]me to the third reason I'm being really real with you today. It's because I want you to know that Jesus offers real hope. And it's not just theoretical hope, it's practical hope. What we're going to be talking about in this series is practical truth from God's word that can make a profound difference in your life.

III. What Does God Say?

And I want to start by sharing something powerful that the Apostle Paul said to the followers of Jesus living in Rome. If you want to follow along, we're going to be in Romans 8:6. We're going to do a deep dive today into one verse.

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6). [CS5]

Now what God's giving us here are two different roads, and two different results. One road leads to death...and not just physical death, but also anxiety and conflict and pain and fear. The other road leads to what? To life and peace. Two different results that come from walking two different roads. And I want you to pay attention to how he describes the two different roads that lead to those two different results. The first road is a mind governed by the flesh. That means a mind that's focused on and is always thinking about what the world values. So that's going to be worldly pleasures, like eating and drinking and since it's family weekend, we'll just calling it fooling around, ok? It's going to be money and power and fame. Those are the things that a mind governed by the flesh focuses on and thinks about. But, Paul says, there's another road: a mind governed by the Spirit. And that's God's Spirit. That means a mind that's focused on and is thinking about what God values. About serving others and living on mission with Jesus, being kind and living generously and sharing the Gospel...those kind of things. Two different roads, one that leads to death and one that leads to life and peace.

But notice, those two different roads aren't defined by what we do, they're defined by how we think. You with me? He doesn't say the body governed by the flesh, he says the mind governed by the flesh. He doesn't say the body governed by the Spirit, he says the mind governed by the Spirit. Now, I'm not saying that what we do doesn't matter...it does. What I'm saying is that what we do - how we live - begins how we think.

Ok, everybody pay attention here, this is really important. Listen: our thoughts determine our lives. [CS6]Ok? Our thoughts determine our lives. I love what Craig Groeshel says. He says, "Your life is always moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts. Most of life's battles are won or lost in the mind." - Craig Groeschel

This is a truth we see over and over again in the Bible. It's why the prophet Ezekial said, On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. (Eze 38:10). Evil schemes begin with evil dreams, with evil thoughts. But it's also why David, after he had received an incredible outpouring of generosity from the people of Israel, prayed: "Lord...keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever." (1Ch 29:18). He didn't pray that God would keep them acting generously...he prayed that God would keep them thinking generously. Because generous living begins with generous thinking. Our thoughts determine our lives.

And that's why, a little bit later on in the book of Romans, Paul says this: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Rom 12:2).

The transformation of your life begins with the renewing of your mind. Or we could say it very simply this way: Change your mind, change your life.

There's an old song by Sister Hazel called Change Your Mind. And I know, some of you are going, "what do you mean, old song? That song was huge just a few years ago!" I've got some bad news for you: you're a lot older than you think you are, ok? This was a big song two decades ago, but it has a really interesting chorus that says this:

If you want to be somebody else,

If you're tired of fighting battles with yourself

If you want to be somebody else

Change your mind

I don't know if they were Christians, but that sounds remarkably similar to what the Apostle Paul said to the Christians in Rome almost 2,00 years ago: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

But how do we do that? First let's understand that this is something that's only really possible by the power of the Holy Spirit working in your life. But if you're a follower of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit and all you have to do is learn how to cooperate with him. So what does that look like? Well that's kind of what this whole series is about. We're just laying the groundwork for it today, but let me give you two big ideas:

Big Idea #1 - Renewing your mind requires developing discernment. [CS7]

And if you don't know what discernment is, let me define it for you: Discernment is the ability to recognize what isn't obvious. It's the ability to recognize what isn't obvious. See, here's the problem: some of our bad thoughts are obvious, but some of them aren't.

Some of our bad thoughts are obviously unhealthy and unholy. They're unhealthy because they don't lead us to life and peace and they're unholy because they don't honor God. If you look in the mirror and think "I'm worthless", that's unhealthy because it will lead you to make decisions as though you have no value and it's unholy because it doesn't honor God Who says "you are fearfully and wonderfully made." If you look at the guy who cuts you off in traffic and think, "I hope you die!" that's unhealthy - because it's going to make you start driving like a maniac to catch up to him and return the favor - and it's unholy because God says that every human being - even the bad drivers - are made as His image and He loves them deeply. Ok, those are obvious unhealthy and unholy thoughts.

But there are other thoughts that are just as bad - they're just as unhealthy, just as unholy - but they're not as obvious. For years, I thought that having humility meant I had to think less of myself. So if anyone gave me a compliment for something I'd done, I would immediately compare myself to someone who was better at whatever I had been complimented for with the result that I didn't think I deserved the compliment. But I eventually learned from God's word that humility isn't thinking less of myself, it's thinking of myself less. It's the freedom to not always be thinking of myself and the freedom to think more about how I can help and serve others. But initially, that difference wasn't obvious to me and so what I needed to do was develop discernment. Developing discernment is a really important part of renewing our minds.

So how do we develop discernment? Well, let me give you three practical things:

1. First, You can develop discernment by praying for it. The Bible says, If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (Jas. 1:5). Look, I can't promise that if you ask God for the blessing of more money this year He'll give it. He might have some other blessings for you this year. Or, let's just keep it real here: you might not be ready to handle the blessing of more money. God's not going to give you a blessing that's going to blow up your life. But I can promise that if you pray for greater wisdom, for greater discernment, that's a prayer God will answer.

2. Second, You can develop discernment by reading the Bible. Here's what the Bible says about itself: For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Heb 4:12). By the way, the Greek word translated there as "judges" is kritikos...it's where we get the world "critical" from. The Bible gives us the tools we need to think critically about the thoughts and aptitudes that are governing our minds. And all we need to receive those tools is to read the Bible. One of the most impactful habits I put into my life years ago was the practice of reading a chapter of the book of proverbs in the Bible every day. I can't even begin to tell you how much that has increased my ability to assess things - thoughts and even ways of thinking - that aren't necessarily obvious. Like, for instance, one of my favorite proverbs is this: If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse. (Prov 27:14). You know what that's taught me? Timing is everything! I used to think that as long as you said the right thing you were doing the right thing...but God's Word has taught me that you have to say the right thing at the right time for it to really be doing the right thing.

3. Third, you can develop discernment by surrounding yourself with people who have discernment. The Bible has a word for people who have discernment and the word is "wise." And the bible says: Walk with the wise and become wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. (Pro 13:20). One of the greatest blessings in my life has been a group of people - some of them are older than me and some of them are my age or even younger than me, but they all have discernment, they have wisdom, and when I spend time with them, a little bit of it rubs off on me. I become wiser, I become more discerning. There's an old saying that goes, show me your friends and I'll show you your future. How you'll think tomorrow - and the life you'll have that's determined by that thinking - depends on who you're hanging with today. So, What do your friends say about your future? and by the way, that includes the kind of messages you're taking in from media.

Ok, so what are we saying? We're saying renewing your mind requires developing discernment.

Big Idea #2 - Renewing your mind requires replacing bad thoughts. [CS8]

Renewing your mind requires replacing some of your thoughts with new, better, more healthy, more holy, thoughts. Now notice I said "replace", not "remove." Why? Because it's very difficult to remove thoughts. It's very difficult to just stop thinking things. Like if I say "do not think about your favorite ice cream"...how many of you just started thinking about your favorite ice cream? How many of you, your mouth just got wet, you started salivating right now? Come on, tell the truth! Yeah, it's very hard to just remove thoughts. especially if you've thought those kinds of thoughts for a lone time. It can be like you've worn down a groove in your mind that it's really hard to get out of. What's much easier is replacing them.

And to do that, we need three things:

1. You need to know what's got to go. That's the discernment stuff we've already talked about.

2. You need something to replace it with. If I say "don't think about ice cream!" you're going to think about ice cream. But if I say "think about how good you're going to look on Spring Break if you drop those pounds that ice cream put on!" What are you doing? You're not removing thoughts, you're replacing them. The Bible says: 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. (Phi 4:8) That's what we've been talking about. And the best source of good replacement thoughts is God's Word. Years ago I put in a little time memorizing Psalm 1 and I cannot tell you have much I've benefited from it. I can't tell you how many times, late at night my thoughts are going crazy and I'm realizing that what I'm thinking isn't going to lead to how I want to be living and I start reciting Psalm 1 to myself: Blessed is the one who does not walk in the way of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree, planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. What am I doing? I'm not just trying to remove bad, unhealthy, unholy thoughts...I'm replacing them with good, God-thoughts.

3. You need the motivation to do the hard work. Because it is work, ok? And it's not easy work. Because our thoughts are wiggly, ok? In the Psalms, David asks, "how long must I wrestle with my thoughts?" the Apostle Paul talks about taking every thought captive. Wrestle, take captive...those are war words, those are hard-work words. And sometimes we need some motivation to put in that kind of effort, to develop that kind of discipline. And here it is: right before Paul talked about replacing our thoughts...right before he talked about choosing to think about what is true, noble and right, he said this: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phi 4:6-7). I love that before he told us what to do...before he told us the key to thinking better so that we can live better...before he told us how, he told us why it was worth it: so that we can not be anxious about anything, so that the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

How many of us could use a little more of God's peace in our lives. I many of us are tired of living in a way that our thoughts are determining for us? I've got good news: With God's help, you can change your mind...and your life.

So I just have one question for you today:

III. How Do We Respond?

How are you going to cooperate with God [CS9]in the renewing of your mind?

- Maybe you need to lean in to developing discernment.

- Maybe you're going to commit to praying for discernment.

- Or maybe you're going to make a commitment to start reading the Bible and attending a bible-driven church on a regular basis.

- Or maybe you're going to take to heart the truth: show me your friends, and I'll show you your future. You know that the people you're hanging out with aren't helping you grow wiser and more God-honoring. And it's time to make a change. So maybe you're going to join a life group. Or maybe you're going to reallocate your time to relationships that will help you grow more discerning, not less. [grouplink pitch]

- Maybe you need to lean in to replacing unhealthy, unholy thoughts.

- Maybe you're going to start memorizing scripture. You're going to download the list we've put together in the app of 10 verses that are worth committing to memory.

- Or maybe you need to turn to God for help, for the first time. Remember: with God's help, you can change your mind...and your life. Maybe you've never turned to God for help. Maybe you've never given yourself to Him completely. You're still trying to do it on your own.

- [Gospel]

- "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (Jn. 14:27)

- [Prayer of response]

- Ok, here's what I want you to do: tell someone about the commitment you're making today. If you're committing to something that will help you develop discernment or if you're committing to something that will help you replace bad thoughts with better ones...I want you to tell someone about your commitment.