Every day we make decisions – some are straightforward, but others are life-changing. We are often influenced by what we call our gut-feelings which can be in conflict to what our head tells us and sometimes our emotions can cloud our judgement with ‘if it will make me happy, it must be right’.
Committed Christians realise wrong decisions have consequences not only in this life, but also for all eternity so they need to know God’s Will. The Bible is our handbook and essential advice is found in Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will”.
The original Greek word translated ‘transformed’ in our Bibles is ‘metamorphoo’ from which we get the word metamorphosis which describes the amazing and irreversible process by which a caterpillar changes into a pupa and then into a beautiful butterfly. If we want to know God’s will, we need to be metamorphosed from a mindset that is self-centred and only concerned with the ‘here and now’ and has ‘me’ as its focus to a God-centred eternal perspective with Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. Otherwise we’ll find ourselves like chameleons constantly changing we will never become the beautiful “butterflies” God made us to be.
How do we practically renew our minds? Even Christians can be influenced by this secular world of materialism, humanism and celebrity worship. Only if we are constantly and prayerfully being saturated with God’s Word by reading and studying the Bible, will our minds be renewed and we will then develop a Godly-influenced common sense and a Godly-sensitised conscience which help us to make good decisions.
We need to be teachable and have a humble spirit which listens and obeys even though the message is not always what we want to hear. Never forget we must always test and approve that what we are convicted of is God’s Will by ensuring it is not in conflict with Biblical teaching. Remember, “He (Jesus Christ) wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (Read 1 Timothy 2v4).
May this message be a blessing to you.
From writings of the late Graeme Greenwood