why my mind needs transforming
"Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." Psalm 34:5
Radiant. Never covered with shame. Who wouldn't want that!? But we don't always feel the way.
Because evil exists. It exists within my own heart and it exists in the hearts of those around me. Evil exists because humanity sins. Evil, everywhere, is there because we each have the choice to choose right or wrong. We have the choice. And we don't have to look far at all to witness those choices made all the time- for good or for bad.
I heard once, "We can't divide the world into good people and bad people. Instead, we divide the world into good and evil within every human heart." Walking the line between good and evil is a universal theme woven through many pieces of art, movies, songs, and stories, because every human can relate to the resistance we face to choose right.
I love, though, that God doesn’t tell us we’re hopeless when we choose wrong. because let's face it- we choose wrong a lot. He doesn't leave us at this place in our story. His grace is everything. It is the the most powerful gift and the most treasured possession.
“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” -Author Tim Keller
I write this as I recognize the grace I've been given, and received, has freed me to forgive myself and others for anything. Yet, as I wrestle with some of my deepest sins, I feel the sting of conviction over the fact that somehow I still manage to display them when I don't want to. A big one for me is selfishness. I still act out selfish habits even though I don't want to. I've been asking God to share with me how I can be more giving and more focused on what is right, good and life-giving for those around me. In His loving grace- He is answering. He yearns to have us seek because then He can respond. And as I've prayed for this, He has watered my soul with these words like rain:
"Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 1:3)
"Those who look to Him are radiant"(Psalm 34:5). "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chronicles 16:9). "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2)."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" (Romans 12:2).
The truest way to operate outside of sin is to look to God, letting Him renew our minds and hearts; letting Him shape us even when it's hard. How do we look to Him? He is challenging me to be immersed in prayer and the Word daily to let it truly consume and transform me from the inside out. We already reflect His image since we were made in it, but we can transform to look more and more like our Creator. We will never be God- we will never ever be perfect like Him. And we were never intended to be. We can, however, transform to be made more into His likeness.
No matter your struggle... Let the transforming happen. We can't do it alone. Let.
He's with us. He sees. He cares. He wants to enter in and make new! As we set our minds on Him- He transforms our hearts with His perfect truth and perfect grace, allowing us to serve and mend (pieces at a time) the world around us. Sometimes only in His transforming power can we begin to forgive ourselves, forgive others, and be free to love more sacrificially than ever before.
"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." -Romans 15:1-6
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
-2 Corinthians 5:17