“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. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 NLT
Have you ever wondered how you can overcome the worries and fears that your circumstances produce? You are plagued by the “what ifs” that come naturally out of the uncertainties you face every day.
God’s “fear nots” are scattered throughout the Bible just because fear is one of the terrible and seemingly uncontrollable emotions that follow us through life.
Is it possible to live without fear?
Fear is the air we breathe when we are without God. It is one of those emotions that both start and follow what we think. We think “what if”…so we begin to be afraid. We are afraid…so who think “what if…” Fear dominates our minds and emotions…so, what we fear becomes true inside us.
Since our minds are the starting point of our feelings and actions, Paul said that we must begin the transformation of our lives by changing the way we think. We must discipline our minds into new paths of thinking. Can we do that? Yes, we can. Can we change our inside so that we change our outside? Yes, we can!
We are bombarded, day in and day out , by the way the world around us thinks…social media, mass media, people, world systems…all working together to mess with our minds and squeeze us into ways of thinking that produce fear.
The problem is that…the more we think the way the world thinks, the more the wrong paths in our minds are cemented in us, like well-trodden foot paths…fear, s and its offspring… anxiety, anger, resentment, bitterness, and so on. With our circumstances comes our natural reactions…all the Bible classifies as “sin” since their root is unbelief.
We need to develop new ways of thinking…going over the same thoughts repeatedly to form new paths in our minds. Where do we find those new patterns of thinking…nor from the world but from God…through His Word. What He says about Himself and us matters…so much more than what the world says because He is truth.
Listen to what God said to Joshua…
““Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Joshua 1:7-8 NIV
Here is the recipe for a renewed mind and a transformed life.
Every time you read God’s Word and believe what it says, your mind follows the path of truth. If you do the same thing every day, the foot paths become highways of truth that slowly transform your thinking, your behaviour, and your character.
It’s not difficult but…it takes time, patience, and discipline and…it is worth every second you spend in the Word of God.
“Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32 NLT
Free! Free from what? Free from the fears, worries, and anxieties that once held you captive and enslaved.