Romans 12: 2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
I heard an interesting comment recently. Dr. James Richards said, “Renewing the mind, if you don’t mix meditation with it, is nothing but an exercise in ego and intellectualism.” Whoa!!! That is a big statement. The Apostle Paul tasked us with renewing our minds. The problem is, most of us don’t know how. So, we begin to try to “change” our minds and thinking patterns and rarely do we enjoy any degree of success. There is an entirely different paradigm available to us which is effective and that is what we need to know. It’s imbedded in this “Partnership with God” that I speak of frequently.
There is a difference between “change” and transformation even though they are in the same family. The biggest functional difference is that transformation only occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit by the grace of the Father. When we try to “change” that is a self-effort and it is always doomed to failure.
The second big difference between change and transformation is that transformation does not involve who you are. Truthfully, transformation is about bringing out the beautiful person who is hidden inside you. Inside, you are Christ-like beautiful, but there are likely areas of your life where you are not fully capable of letting that glory shine. The world has trained you in certain ways and those ways are not the way God does things. For example, the world says, “Every man for himself.” God says to put other people’s needs before yours. The world teaches us to be antagonistic and defensive. God leads us to continual peace. So, when someone cuts you off on the highway, you might react as you’ve been taught or you may be able to let God’s thoughts show.
The only way we can be transformed in the inner parts of our soul is to let the Lord work in us and ultimately, through us. Transformation doesn’t actually take place in the mind. It occurs through the renewing of our mind, but the transformation takes place in our spirits. The key is in allowing God to speak to our minds, yes, but also to our spirits. That is when He is able to make transformative changes in us which releases our glorious selves.
Meditation is the slow, deliberate time of connection with God. It isn’t the conversation you have with Him on your way to work. That isn’t a bad practice, it just isn’t what I am discussing here. Meditation is when you allow yourself to slow down and commune with the Father. I am always reminded of Psalm 46: 10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” It is in the quite pensiveness that we most easily find God. Then He is able to minister to our inner selves to work out our salvation through the transformation process. To try to change ourselves or to attempt to “renew” our own minds is an ego trip on the failure express. We cannot change ourselves in any meaningful way. We certainly cannot transform ourselves from the caterpillar to the lovely butterfly. That is a God process and only by surrendering our will to Him can we experience and manifest the beautiful creature He has created us to be. He is the author of transformation. To think that we can make ourselves into a silk purse from the sow’s ear that we are is to elevate ourselves to the throne. How can we initiate such a transformation if we are, in fact, in need of transformation? Doesn’t the mere fact that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind suggest that we are not complete and therefore incapable of completing this transformation in our own strength? If we knew how to let our inner butterfly out, wouldn’t we have done it long ago.
Transformation and the renewal of the mind are grace processes. Father God is the author of grace. It is His touch within us which is going to effect the transformation. Slow down and take time with God. Enter into a time of quiet and stillness. Meet God beside the calm waters and let Him guide your growth. Let Him lead you and guide the process. To do otherwise is merely “an exercise in ego and intellectualism.”