Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
This verse keeps popping up in sermons, in books I am reading, in blogs I am following, even on my Facebook feed. So, I started getting the message that I should take a deeper look at it, especially since I am becoming aware that I have some mangled thinking and learned automatic survival mechanisms that need healing/changing. So, I am studying this verse for myself, but also for anyone else out there who has been the victim of narcissistic trauma and abuse, especially gaslighting. In studying this verse, word-by-word, my mind is not only being renewed, but positively blown.
Always, when I have read this verse before, I have gotten bogged down with the first half, with the world, the pattern of the world's thinking, and the command to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. That always freezes me right there. I am immediately focused on myself and this impossible thing I'm supposed to do. But how do I renew my mind? After doubting my thinking for so long, how do I even know if/when my thinking is right?
The word in Greek translated "renewing" above is anakainósis (ἀνακαίνωσις). It is made up of two words which together mean completing the process of making fresh and new. Properly, it means "a new development; a renewal, achieved by God's power."1 Yes! Achieved by God's power! Not mine. And, like so much else in this journey, it is a process. The noun form of this word is only used twice in the New Testament. Here is the other one:
… he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit … Titus 3:5
It is the Holy Spirit who accomplishes this "new development." The root of this word for renewal is kainós, meaning fresh, new in quality, "not found exactly like this before." It is the word used in these verses:
Neither do people pour new (neos = new on the scene, new in time) wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new (kainós = new in quality) wineskins, and both are preserved. Matthew 9:17
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new (kainós) covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Luke 22:20
A new (kainós) command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new (kainós) creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new (kainós) has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
All of this comes through and in Christ. I am made new, a new development, not exactly found like this before. A new creation. New in quality. And, if I am a new creation in Christ, my thinking is not conformed to the world's thinking anymore or dictated by someone else's demands of how I should think. My thinking is not even how I think I should think – does that make sense? My thinking is completely new, part of the new creation. I now have the mind of Christ. It is life-changing revelation, the-truth-shall-set-you-free opening of eyes, it is throwing off all fear of wrong thinking and trusting that God will guide and correct my thoughts if my mind is stayed on Him. Trusting God's promise that in this journey/process I am on, even my failures, mistakes, and wrong thinking, He will use for my good. Paul, whose thinking was completely renewed on the road to Damascus, said it this way:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed (being made new again, completing a process, renovated), day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16
Renovated! I love that! Yes, Lord, renovate me, make me new!
God is showing me so much in this verse that it will take a few posts to express it all. Next time: transformation!
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
1All the definitions of words in this series come from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and HELPS studies by Discovery Bible.
Photo, Monarch Life Cycle 7 of 20 by Sid Mosdell https://flic.kr/p/8kmkoG
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