Recent Devotionals

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)

It has been said that we are not who we think we are, nor are we who other people think we are. Instead, we are who we think other people think we are. If that sounds confusing, it boils down to this: the mind is a powerful instrument just waiting to be told what to believe.

We see this worked out in the lives of children—they will believe anything! That is both a blessing and a danger. Some who live in an environment of unconditional love overflow with exuberance and a passion for life. They think they are “okay” because those they are around have told them they are. Others, whose surroundings have been more conditional, approach life with a fear of failing. They hold back, listening to internal tapes that say they’re “not okay.” They don’t know why—they just have a nagging suspicion that they’re missing something important.

Our mind is constantly learning what to think. If we have no gatekeeper, then any piece of information, true or false, can wander in and take up residence (2 Peter 2:1-3). But if our mind is guarded by a filter that rejects error and only allows truth to come in, we learn to think correctly about ourselves, others, and the world we live in. It was Jesus who said that the truth will make us free, and that it is Satan who speaks lies as his native language (John 8:32, 44). We can learn to think by default (believing whatever the world and others tell us) or by discipline (believing what God says about life and about ourselves). We can believe that powerful, pretty, prominent, and prosperous is the goal, or we can believe that God’s values are the goal: loving, faithful, loyal, humble, and servant-hearted. The filter, of course, is the Bible, for that’s where we learn what God thinks.

Forget what you think and what others think. Find out what God thinks about you. Reading His Word is the only way to learn who you really are.

Heavenly Father, Keep me from listening to the world and its lies and help me discipline myself to renew my mind with Your truth. Amen.