Transformational Thinking

Happy Sunday! Last week we began a series on transformational choices. Today I want to talk about transformational thinking. I want to read to you the first part of Romans 12:2 from the New Living Translation. There we are told, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Other translations say that we need to have a renewing of our mind.

Isn't that the truth? I heard Rick Warren say, and I must agree, that God is far more interested in changing your mind than in changing your circumstances. Transformational thinking will help us grow closer to God regardless of our circumstances. Our thoughts control our lives. Every action begins as a thought; if you don't think it, you don't do it.

Proverbs 4:23 tells us this in the Good News Translation: "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." We have to be so careful with our thoughts. Our mind is a battleground. We win or lose in our thoughts. All temptation happens in our minds: pride, lust, bitterness, envy, hatred, worry, you name it. Whatever it is, it begins with a thought.

We see the problem in Romans 7:22 and 23, where Paul tells us, "I love God's law with all my heart. But there's another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me." I don't have to tell you this; you know it. There is a battle in your mind. If you're a Christian, your old self and your new self are always at war.

We're told this in Romans 8:6: "So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." An unmanaged mind controlled by the flesh leads to all sorts of problems. A managed mind controlled by the Spirit leads to peace. So what can we do?

You've heard the phrase "garbage in, garbage out." I believe that phrase comes from the world of computer programmers. A computer will only provide information that it has been programmed with. Put garbage in it and you'll end up with garbage. That's the same with our minds.

If I choose to fill my mind with the news of this world all of my waking hours, what am I going to think about and talk about all the time? If I choose to fill my mind with negative thoughts, I'm not going to be any fun to be with. Remember Y2K? When the year 2000 rolled around, people were nervous that all sorts of bad things would happen.

I heard of the pastor that had the nervous breakdown because he thought that the world was heading towards a complete shutdown, and he thought that he would be responsible for feeding and caring for his entire congregation and the community in which he lived. He stockpiled all sorts of things and spent all of his money in the process. Y2K turned out to be a non-event, but in his mind it was overwhelming. He put garbage in, and he forgot that God was still on the throne and in charge.

I suppose all of us do that at one time or another to a lesser extent. In times of trouble we can focus on God or we can focus on the problem. The battle for our thoughts is always there. It's described in Second Corinthians ten, verses three and four and five. I'll read that.

"We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ."

These verses are filled with military terms: wage war, mighty weapons, strongholds, destroy, obstacle, capture, rebellions. This is serious business. There we are told to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and destroy false arguments. Do you know what a stronghold or a false argument is?

Let me give you some common examples that people wrestle with in their minds and their thoughts. God doesn't care about me. God can't love me. I can never be forgiven for what I have done. The situation is hopeless. I will never make it to heaven. I can't change. God can't use me. There are seven big ones that people wrestle with that I just told you about.

My friend Chuck spent much of his life drunk. We met in Indiana. He was in a wheelchair as a result of an accident that was his fault. His, he was driving drunk, and he hit a bunch of parked cars, and as a result of his bad thinking and bad choices, he was paralyzed from the waist down.

Stuck at home in a chair, Chuck grew bitter and angry and downright mean. His wife was a Christian, and she tried to talk to him, but he didn't want to talk about faith. Over the years she invited every preacher she could find to come over and talk to Chuck. He just couldn't believe that God loved him. He didn't love himself, so how could God love him?

After years of stinking thinking, Chuck finally became a Christian. Strongholds of human reasoning and false arguments were destroyed by prayer and scripture and truth and love. How we think must be influenced by the things of God.

Have you ever heard this phrase about someone: "He's so heavenly minded that he's no earthly good"? I don't believe that. I think just the opposite is true: he's so earthly minded that he's no heavenly good. The heavenly minded change the world. I'll end with words from Colossians 3:2. We're told, "Think about things of heaven, not things of earth." Why don't you give it a shot?

Let's pray together. God, bless our thoughts that control our actions. Help us to yield our mind to you. Let us read your word, let us pray, let us surround ourselves with things for the good, not for the bad. Father, thank you that Chuck's life changed because his thinking changed. And we ask that you would help us to think the way we should always. Help us to win that battle. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

God bless.