Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12: 2.

The above verse relates to an exhortation to live our lives as a sacrifice to God (vs. 1). In order to do that, our minds must be constantly renewed. The dictionaries define “renewing” as a restoration, revival, or a reestablishment. To me, then, “renewing your mind” means getting back to something that was before.

In this case, the thing that was “before” was the condition of the human mind before the fall. At that time, the mind was “new.” It was totally in alignment with God’s mind. I believe the writer of Romans 12: 2, the apostle Paul, is urging us to return our minds to creation’s unblemished “newness.”

That Paul says transformation takes place via the renewing of the mind is really not surprising. After all, the mind is where the battle between the flesh and the Spirit takes place. Winning the battle requires our minds to daily return to “new.”

The best way to do that is by getting to know and live God’s always fresh Word; the revelation of which, of course, is in the Bible. That, then, requires prayerful study of God’s Word, which leads to being able to discern what’s good, acceptable, and perfect. In this way – familiarity with God’s mind – godly wisdom can be fully obtained when what’s learned is then put into action through obedience. Obedience transforms.

Again, the exhortation to renew our minds is simply a call to reestablish the new human mindset that existed at the beginning of God’s and mankind’s relationship. We restore our minds to “newness” by exposing our thinking to the thinking of the Lord: His Word. As our surrendered thinking changes from a worldly view to a godly view, so too will our beliefs, feelings, actions, and character be transformed. One is as one thinks (Proverbs 23: 7).