You were someone before you came into God, you thought like a people, behaved like a people, and probably acted in a certain way that can be traced to certain people. Howbeit, to genuinely become like Christ, you will have to replace the old ideas and opinions you’ve accumulated over time. Those ideas cannot let you live as the righteousness of God, they can only aid you in becoming worldly. Hence, the need for revitalizing and re-aligning your mind.
“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
You are now a citizen of heaven who lives on earth; you are not just here to while away time; you are here as Christ’s ambassador. You may be living in the world, but your government (The source of your authority, guiding principles, economy and culture) is of Heaven. Your thought pattern and lifestyle must be conformed to that of Christ. That is the truest definition of a Christian; One who is Christ-like.
DESIRING TO
KNOW GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE
Everything we know today, we came to its awareness at some point or the other in our lives. For some, it was not until you came across an adult site, you had no business with masturbation. For others, you were sober and innocent until a friend introduced you to drugs and alcoholism. While for others, you just kept cutting across impure content on the internet, most probably on a friend’s timeline or status update. There are tons of irrelevant information out there, and some are more dangerous than helpful to you as a believer.
The kind of information that is cheaply available in our world today leads to death, both spiritual and physical death. This is why you must become selective in what you let in. consider your mind/heart to be a factory; when you take flour, sugar, and baking powder into a factory, you already know what the outcome will be. You can’t do more than recreate bread and pastries. The same goes for your mind: it is like a factory and the things you expose it to will determine the quality of your life.
You must start desiring a different kind of knowledge and that is the knowledge of God. You cannot expose yourself to so much worldliness with diminutive, or zero appetites for the ways of God and expect to grow into the person of Christ.
“Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ.” II Corinthians 10:5
Since you cannot always control what you run into, you will have to constantly cast down every knowledge that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Do not breed any of it!
THE RIGHT KNOWLEDGE
“Real knowledge of the highest value is not to be obtained easily. It must be worked for, studied for, thought for, and, more than all, it must be prayed for.” (emphasis mine) -Thomas Arnold
Seeking to
know God will cost you but the gain of knowing God cannot be compared to
whatever you may lose along the way. The knowledge of God saves eternally, it
edifies, it refines, and it is truth. What this implies is that every other
knowledge that is contrary to the knowledge of God is a lie.
Your
schedule may be tight, but you must work out a time to seek to know God. Just
as you become more knowledgeable in arts and science by investing your time in
studying, you must also study to show yourself approved. After studying, comes
meditation because the knowledge that changes you is not just the one you read
or learn, but the one that stays with you. Think about the person of Jesus, His
works, and His plans. Then, pray! Ask God to reveal Himself to you, so that you
may know Him for who He is.
I Peter
2:1-2 says; “Therefore laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy,
and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that
you may grow thereby.”
In seeking to know God, you will come to know yourself better. Your new identity in Christ will be revealed to you, and then you will realize how useless some of the things you knew were, you will discover that some of the concepts that made a lot of sense to you were all vague. God is vast, and seeking to know Him is a worthwhile adventure. In knowing Him, you will find the answers to the questions; ‘who am I? why am I here? And what am I here to do?’ In essence, you will discover and walk in purpose while striving to know God.
You will also get to know Him as a healer; the anger, bitterness and resentment you feel in your heart will be completely taken from you. You will learn to forgive and unlearn old sinful habits.
IGNORANCE BUILDS FEAR, KNOWLEDGE BUILDS CONFIDENCE
By renewing your mind, you will unlearn the lies of the devil and come into the knowledge of God’s love for you, and this will translate to an understanding that your weaknesses are not a limitation. You are capable of all things through Christ who strengthens you. But until you know this, you will keep fretting at the empty threats of the enemy.
Knowledge is the antidote to fear, and that is why you don’t feel confident going into an exam hall without reading for the exam, but you are confident walking into a room to discuss a topic you have well researched.
The more confident you are about the knowledge of God, the more confident you will be about your life, who you are, and where you are headed. Make a deliberate decision to seek the right knowledge today. Be intentional about the possible sources of information around you. Not every TV show is for you anymore. Not every discussion is worth your interest and attention. Be deliberate, Beloved, and eliminate knowledge that does not contribute to the betterment of your spirit man.
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