Rewire Your Mind

Opening thoughts:

(NASB1995 is used for all scripture unless otherwise stated.)

One of the first life scriptures Holy Spirit gave me as a new Christian is:

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. [Romans 12:2]

I understood from this scripture that the world's ways are NOT God's ways and are in fact rebellious against God's ways. What I believe (my mindset) affects everything I do (how I live) and therefore the results of my life. Therefore, I have to rewire my mindset about everything in order to be in alignment with God's ways so that I can have His perfect will operating in my life! I want to live a blessed life - not a worldly life!

We must rewire our mind from the mold of the world's ways into the mold of God's kingdom ways in order to know and live out His perfect, beautiful will for us as kingdom citizens!

How it works.

Think of your mind as the manual that directs your life. Your habits, your actions, and your life decisions are always in compliance with the state of your mind. As your mind believes and steers, so goes and flows your life!

This is a sobering thought because you realize that you cannot blame anyone but yourself for the most part of what your life is and looks like!

Let's go a little deeper: if there is an area of your life that is dysfunctional or poorly developed, your mindset in that area is erroneous or lacking. On the better hand, a developing or flourishing area of your life is a fruit of an enlightened mindset in that area.

Furthermore, we can have as many mindsets as areas of life. We have mindsets for our:

*finances

*health

*relationships (marriage, friendships)

*recreational time / activities

*spirituality

*career / entrepreneurship

*identity

and the list goes on according to how expanded or boxed in we are.

I don't want to keep reading!

Now that you know that your mindset is steering your life and not elements out of your control , you may feel horrible regret, guilt, and overwhelm:

Regret that you wasted time or forfeited opportunities.

Guilt that you didn't do better.

Overwhelm of confronting many dysfunctional / lacking areas in your life at once.

Despondency at feeling helpless or unknowledgeable to fix it

Now the good part.

I am proud of you! You are humble to admit any, several, or all of the above! You are not lazy or arrogant to disregard or deny the regret, guilt, overwhelm, or despondency you're feeling right now! I know some people who run from the truth of their lives, who instead focus on blaming and belittling others - and if you've done that in the past, repent and God will forgive you and begin a healing process in your life.

Here are God's promises to those who are humble:

God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. [1 Peter 5:5]

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. [1 Peter 5:6-7]

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” [James 4:6]

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. [James 4:10]

God is not impressed with your self-sufficiency, denial, or arrogance. But He leans in close when you're humble in honesty and picks you up to exalt you. He gives you grace to overcome! Humility is the beginning of change and progress!

What's affecting me?

Let's bring it back to Romans 12:2.

The dysfunction in your life comes from the ways of the world that your mindset is still conformed to.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. [John 10:10]

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [2 Corinthians 4:4]

for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me [John 14:30]

First, the god of this world is not Jesus - it's the devil. The devil is a harsh taskmaster whose worldly ways will enslave you. He is a thief who will steal from you, kill, and destroy any goodness in your life.

Second, Jesus is your True God! There is nothing of the devil or the devil's worldly ways in Him, therefore, Jesus does not steal, kill, or destroy any good thing in your life! His ways grant you an abundant life!

Third, Jesus' Gospel is His good news and kingdom principles for every area of your life that brings light to eradicate the darkness in those areas.

Now, it's very obvious to you how necessary it is to renew and conform your mind to Jesus' kingdom principles! Upon doing that, your life will be transformed into the abundant, "good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2) will of God for you!

In short, stop doing things according to the world's ways and start doing every thing according to God's principles as stated in His Word!

Where to start?

Which dysfunctional area in your life is the most time sensitive one to fix? I suggest that this may either be your relationships or your finances. If it's neither of the two or you're just unsure, ask God to reveal to you which area/s He wants you to confront with His grace. You will feel an inner pull, nudge, urgency, and peace about the area/s.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. [James 1:5]

Next, ask Father God, Yeshua (Jesus), and Holy Spirit to send you wisdom and teach you kingdom principles to rewire your mind and your practices in these areas. Some ways they will send wisdom and teachings are via books, videos on YouTube, podcasts, and of course scriptures. I understand that for many of us, we don't start with scriptures because we don't quite understand it. However, start with a translation that you feel joy reading and that you understand, and then move forward as Holy Spirit leads you. Once you find a translation you love and understand, you can compare scriptures from it with different translations to get a fuller meaning of those scriptures. I've used different translations in different seasons of my life according to how I feel pulled.

Research books on the area you're suffering in and buy or borrow them and read them. Talking from personal experience, just one book can transform an entire area of your life majorly! It took one Dave Ramsey's book to completely change my mindset on finances, bringing about a major change in our financial life!

My earnest advice: Do not do any major learning from non-Christians if you're seeking a lifestyle change. Lifestyle changes are based on principles and non-Christians do not submit to God's Biblical principles. They may unconsciously adapt some of His principles as His principles are universal, but non-Christians are teaching from a worldly perspective influenced by a worldly spirit. You should not be contaminated by that. Remember, Romans 12:2--the goal is for you to be conformed to only His kingdom principles. To stress the point, non-Christian teachers (anyone who puts forth a lifestyle choice/principle) have not submitted their free wills to God, therefore they are not teaching from the fullness of His Spirit. Those who refuse the fullness of Truth--Yeshua--cannot be entrusted liberally with His precious pearls of wisdom.

It is acceptable to learn skills from non-Christians because there is no major element of morality embedded within learning skills. For e.g., learning to illustrate using Procreate, from a non-Christian teacher, will not affect your lifestyle principles.

Closing Thoughts: My Personal Experience

As mentioned above, I read one of Dave Ramsey's books years ago that majorly renewed my mind which caused my husband and me to transform our finances. This was not a skill change, but a lifestyle change based on financial principles. Dave Ramsey is a Christian whose financial principles align with God's principles - debt free living (Proverbs 22:7), generosity (2 Corinthians 9:7), etc. We still practice Dave's teachings and see the positive results of learning God's wisdom in this area of our lives.

One skill that I learned from a non-Christian is how to dress appropriately. Every so often, I target a different area of my life to improve, and at a certain time I decided to target how I dressed. I truly felt clueless about what fabrics and styles were best for me, among other questions. I asked God to send me wisdom (James 1:5) concerning this area--it felt like a BIG request, lol. But of course, nothing is too big or complicated for God, for within a few weeks--unrelated to my viewing algorithm--a fashion advice video popped up on my YouTube feed! The presenter had a personality that I quickly connected and felt comfortable with, and as I watched, I realized that her style of dressing was quite similar to my preferences. Over some weeks, I learned tremendously from her videos which helped me to transform my wardrobe. For the first time in life, I had a firm foundation for my dressing so it was no longer hit or miss. An added blessing is that I now get to pass on this wisdom to my daughters so that they too can become skilled in the area of their dressing. The presenter of the videos, at the time, did not share my faith in Jesus, so I only learned the skills she taught and did not adopt her personal lifestyle beliefs.

Hopefully, by sharing my personal examples, you will be able to distinguish between learning a skill vs. adopting a lifestyle principle.

In closing, God is faithful to give us His wisdom and kingdom principles for areas in which we need to renew our minds: He does so because He wants our lives to be transformed into the abundant, "good and acceptable and perfect" will He has for us!

Edited: February, 25th, 2025

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