I am convinced that outside of John 3:16, the most important verse in the Bible is Romans 12:2. You see, the foundation of who we are and the decisions we make that leads to our actions, come from our mind. This act of renewing your mind becomes the most important task a new believer has, and not doing so is the number one reason people backslide.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. - Romans 12:2
Think about it this way. The things you see and hear go into your memory.
The more you do something, see something, hear something, the more of your memory is taken up by those things. For example, those who are into pornography have a tremendous problem kicking that problem.
Why? Their memory banks are full of the images and sounds. Just looking at an attractive person can trigger those memory banks into full action. You see, before we get saved, most spent many, many years filling their memory banks full of ungodly content. When a person accepts Christ, those memory banks are still full of that content.
The renewing of a person's mind needs to become one of the very first priorities in their new life with Christ. All of the ungodly content did not get there overnight and it does not leave overnight. It is a process. The process involves replacing the existing ungodly content with new Godly content.
That is why reading the word is so important. God's Word acts as a spiritual detergent as it replaces the garbage in your mind with God-inspired content.
That is why it is so critical what you watch, what you listen to. What is in your mind ultimately manifests itself in your day-to-day decisions and actions.
The reason most new believers fall away is that they never successfully clean out the old thoughts and information in their mind with clean God-inspired information. It is similar to programming a computer. The computer basically does exactly what the program says. Your mind reacts based on the program that is in your mind. If that program is full of ungodly information, you have a big chance of being involved in ungodly activities. If it is God-inspired content, then you are more likely to be involved in God-honoring activities.
This basic concept of renewing your mind is the most important process any believer can go through. Many have been walking with Christ for many years, yet have never really totally cleaned out their mind. They have learned how to compartmentalize their mind and keep the ungodly content in a back closet, hidden away in the back. But trust me, not dealing with that closet will ultimately result in major problems in your life at some point.
This is a message that needs to be printed out and passed around to your friends, associates, schoolmates, bible-study, Sunday school, and hung on bulletin boards in churches.
Not enough sermons are preached on this most basic issue that is the cause of so many of God's people falling away. My prayer is that you will sit down after reading this, and ask yourself what is in your mind that is not God-honoring. Then make an effort to spend each day cleansing your mind.
Don't forget, the cleansing process is only part of the problem. You then have to KEEP IT CLEANSED by not putting ungodly content back in. This battle is won or lost in your mind. Realize that your mind is the battle zone and treat it accordingly. PROTECT IT!!!
This is critical to our ability to serve God and is a war that must be won.
God will help you. God will strengthen you in this renewal process.
Recognize it's importance and begin this process today of renewing your mind so that you can be the best servant for the Kingdom possible, and know the joy, peace, and blessings this life has to offer. It won't happen overnight, it is a process...day by day. Your number one weapon is His Word. Start the process today. It will change your life.
