Why Did He Do That?
By Lisa Boyer
“Do not conform any longer 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.”
Romans 12:2
When I was a kid I used to play with my younger nephew. We often wrestled and I always won. When I was about 13, I realized that one day my nephew was going to be bigger than I. Though we continued to play together, we never wrestled again.By Lisa Boyer
“Do not conform any longer 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.”
Romans 12:2
Many years had passed and I saw him at a family gathering. He had certainly gotten bigger, 6’3” tall and over 275 pounds, compared to my 5’5” inches and less than 125 pounds. I don’t know what came over me when I saw him, but I made an aggressive move towards him like I was going to get him. I immediately regretted it…he was huge and he was going to squish me like a bug, or so I thought. Instead, he jumped back from me in fear. That huge man was afraid of me!?!
What would make a man twice my size instinctively jump back in fear? Experience. In his experience, every time we wrestled, he was a loser.
Though I laugh at what happened with my nephew that day, I too have struggled with that same mindset. Since childhood, I had suffered defeat in one area of my life and, in all honesty, grew up believing I would always fail because my only experience was failure. And because I believed I would always fail, I always did.
Until the day that I chose to believe something different, I chose to believe the Word of God. Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I reevaluated my thinking in that area of my life and stopped accepting defeat at the onset of the situation. I began living like I was being transformed. The result was, well, transformation, the evidence of a renewed mind.
Habits and patterns of behavior are difficult to change, but not impossible. God tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Grasp that concept and apply its positive message to your life and see what exciting things God has in store for you!
GOING DEEPER:
1. Are there areas in your life that you believe will never change because they have been the same for so long? Today, will you being to prayerfully apply the Word of God to that area?
2. Think back to a time when God transformed you by the renewing of your mind. Thank Him for not leaving you the way He found you.
FURTHER READING:
Ephesians 4:21-24
Lisa is a wife and mother of two. She is a co-leader for a Junior High girls’ small group.
