[OBW]

Sorry for taking your thread so far off track. It was "enlightening" but not really meaningful.

When I think about the renewing of the mind, I know that there is an aspect of the Spirit, yet it seems to be more about changing our minds than having our minds changed for us. Having lived a life in which a collection of actions and attitudes were the default way of living and thinking, there is surely some change that must take place, especially where those default actions and thoughts are contrary to the living of the Christian life.

I come to realize that I need to change my mind. And it begins with an "outward" acceptance of the new way of thinking and living. And most will have some success in starting down this path. Yet it will not be simple. We will discover that we continue to think that certain things are "right" or "righteous" when they are not. And even where we know the right way or thoughts, there will be some that we will have trouble really getting in sync with.

Is the Spirit necessary? Absolutely. Can we just read our Bible and both figure it out and find the way to do it? Sometimes, but not always. While the extent to which we are able to see what should be and do it is commendable (despite some teaching that we simply cannot do it on our own), yet there are always things with which we need help. Help seeing what it is. Help seeing that we are failing at it. Help in doing it.

And that help comes from different places. From our Christian community. From the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (which we must seek, not just assume it will come when needed).

I would argue that the renewal of our mind is about the way our mind thinks when simply in default mode. That does not mean that everything about us is always on board and things just happen the way our mind wants. But our mind is the key to our change. If we are not thinking the right way, we are not going to act the right way no matter how much Bible we read or prayers we raise to the heavens.

But at the same time, our mind will not simply change because we declare that it should. If we think wrong on certain matters, ignoring them and the right thinking that should be replacing them will not happen. No amount of spiritual enjoyment will replace our bad thinking unless we are considering our thinking in light of right thinking as we have that spiritual enjoyment.

In other words, "don't worry about it" is not an acceptable approach to the renewing of your mind.

You need to learn what is the right thinking. That will be found outside of ourselves (not simply "in my spirit"), such as in the Bible (and primarily so). What others tell us is right thinking cannot be ignored, but it must also be vetted against he Bible (some people will tell us anything).

And we must pray. We must seek the guidance of the one that we call Lord. Yet we should not expect that he will simply tell us privately what is the right answer. Instead, we will more often be enlightened as we see what he has already told us in his Word.

Then we need to continue to pray, and to set out minds and wills to live as if what we think is the truth. The mind does not transform us. But it is the key to transformation. If our minds do not start the move toward transformation, it will not happen. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is good. But until the mind is on board, it is not effective. Only when we are behind transformation with our cognitive faculties will we actually begin to change.

And it will not happen through some magical process in which we are not engaged. I know that everyone likes to talk about grace. But grace also requires that we get involved. It doesn't just give us what we don't have without our participation. It also teaches us to obey. So we have no excuse. "I don't have enough dispensing" is not a valid excuse.