“How to Change your Mind”
Matthew 5:6; Romans 12:1-2
Happy New Year! I think we would all agree this morning that the Bible is the most important book ever written. I read a total of 72 books last year including the Bible. I love to read. I read many interesting books but none of them compare to God’s word.
This is one of the most amazing things that sets this book apart from all the others. The Bible is composed of 66 books, OT and NT, inspired by God himself-written by 39 different authors and it took 1500 years to complete. Yet all of these writers are in complete agreement with one another because all of them were inspired by one person--God himself-- and in this book there is a thread that runs all the way through Scripture; a scarlet thread of redemption that leads to Jesus Christ. We see it all the way from Genesis to Revelation. It starts in the garden where the Tree of Life was, right in the center and Adam and Eve were to have their lives centered on God. In the final chapter of the Bible Revelation we find the tree of life again. So it starts in a garden and it ends in a garden.
But one thing is for sure-the Bible is a book about change. Once man was placed on this earth, everything began to change. Is a book that tells us how to change so that we can become mature; complete holy servants of Jesus Christ. This change doesn’t happen all at once-it is a work in progress until one day we will stand before Christ and we will then be free from all our hurts, all of our habits and all of our hang-ups. We will be free from temptation; we will be free from sin and will therefore be free from the effects of sin as well. I can hardly wait.
Jesus said in Matthew, “Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires.” Paul said in Romans “I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you offer yourselves as living sacrifices, which is your reasonable service. And be ye not conformed to this word, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may know what that good and acceptable and perfect will of God is.” Romans 12:1-2. That is real change.
Now this is real change. It is transformation. It is a complete change. It’s new. It’s like walking in one direction and suddenly turning and heading in the opposite direction. It is like a sculptor who takes a large rock and makes something amazing out of it; like an artist who takes a blank palette, a blank slate and paints a beautiful picture and here’s the deal... The end product in no way resembles the original one. Only God can do that.
I want us to think together today about three questions.
One. How did we get in our current condition? Other words, how do we get to where we are today? Perhaps you’re in a good place. Perhaps you’re not in a good place. We could place some of the blame for how we turned out, on our parents.
1. Our heritage. Did you know that your parents contributed 46,000 chromosomes to make you who you are today? 23,000 apiece. It is the reason you look like you do and could be the reason you do some of the things you do. Someone at some time or another has likely said to you: “you are just like your father or you are just like your mother.” Perhaps that was a complement, perhaps, not so much.
2. Our circumstances. The circumstances of how you were raised and what you saw as you grew up -- these things matter--they contribute to your character to your personality and how you see life. They contribute to who you are today. Much of what you learned-both good and bad--you learned from your parents. When you grew up, you learned from watching others-friends, parents, your teachers. Your circumstances can hurt you or they can help you-they can make you bitter or they can make you better but either way they will impact your life in a huge way.
3. Our choices. This factor is extremely important because this is the one area you and I CAN control. You can’t go back and change your parents were. You can’t go back and change the environment of your childhood. You can’t go back and change circumstances that may or may not have happened to you as you were growing up. But with God’s help, you can the choices you make every day. In other words you can learn to change your mind.
You see, we develop some of these hang-ups we have and live by constantly repeating bad choices. You have heard the definition of insanity— doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. Why do we do that? It’s like I know this square peg didn’t fit into this round hole the last 10,000 times I tried it. But just maybe it will this time so I think I’ll keep trying. We do it for so long that it simply becomes what we call a bad habit.
That’s how we got in our current condition. Your heritage, your circumstances and your choices have gotten you to where you are today.
QUESTION #2. Now that we can see how we got into our current condition, now, what does it take to change our minds, the way we think and also why does it take so long? The question is how can we change our mind? How can we turn all of this around and why does it take so long to turn it all around? I think it’s a lot like debt. Listen carefully. Suppose you took all of your credit cards and went out tomorrow and bought everything you wanted. Maxed all of them out. Tomorrow is Monday. Then on Tuesday, you said now I’m going to change it---- I’m going to pay off all of my debt today. Guess what, you couldn’t do it.
It is much easier to get into trouble financially, emotionally, spiritually than it is to get out of trouble. You can get yourself into a deep hole in one day-a gigantic hole. But then it’s like you’ve lost your shovel and you have no idea how to put the dirt back in place.
1. First reason it is so difficult is that we seem to want to hold on to what is familiar. We even call it our comfort zone. Even if it’s painful. From my work in child protection I saw so many children who were scared and hurting, experiencing abuse, yet they would defend the ones who were abusing them. Because it was the only thing they knew. It’s like an old pair of shoes. They’re broken in. They may have big holes in their sole. Our feet get wet if we step into a puddle but still we’re used to them. And we just don’t know how that new pair is gonna work. Or how they’re gonna fit. So we have a hard time getting rid of them. Throwing them away and getting something new.
2. We all have flaws. Don’t confuse your flaws with your identity. We say things like, I can’t help it. It’s just the way I am. In the program AA, for instance, a good program by the way that has helped millions, an individual will open up something like this ….. they began by saying, “Hi, I’m Sam and I’m an alcoholic.” In some newer Christian programs that have come along they now say, hey, I’m Sam and I am a believer in Christ who struggles with alcohol. Do you see the difference? Your primary identity is that you are a believer... A child of God who has been changed. Never allow a character defect or a flaw to become who you are.
Final Question. How do we actually do it? How do we actually change the way we think? How do we get out of the rut some of us are in? How do we become the person God intended us to be? Well let me begin with a few brief reminders for all of us.
• There is a God.
• You are not Him. You cannot take care of every detail for every single person in life. So make yourself a priority and take care of yourself. You are needed.
• Commit your life completely to His control, not yours. He can do a much better job.
• Openly examine your faults, admit them to yourself, to God and to someone you trust. Two of those are not hard to do. The third one I believe is the hardest. There is a saying that goes like this: be careful you don’t bleed around sharks. Sharks like blood and they will ruin you. Gossip is a terrible thing and has destroyed many an individual. Be careful with whom you choose to share.
• Voluntarily submit every single change God wants to make in your life in 2019.
Here are 5 things I hope you will focus on this year.
1. Focus on changing one thing at a time. . If you are like me you may have 10 different things that you know you need to change but you cannot tackle all 10 of them at once. So focus on one thing at a time. “This one thing.”
2. Focus on victory, one day at a time. I have news for you in case you don’t already know it. 2019 is not going to be perfect. There is no perfect year. And I want to remind you that when Jesus taught his disciples to pray He said, give us this day our daily bread. In the OT, the Israelites tried to store up manna for a week but God allowed it to go bad. In other words it would not stay fresh. The only reason I can see for that was that he wanted to teach his people to live life one day at a time. I was speaking with someone outside of our church this past week and they told me I have trouble living one day at a time-sometimes I have to focus on just five minutes. Maybe that’s where you are as well. But wherever you are, don’t think that you can conquer the whole world in one day.
3. Jesus wants us to learn to lean on Him day by day. One day at a time. Because he knows something we apparently don’t. He knows we can’t handle everything at once.
• Just for today Lord-I want to be patient-and not become angry.
• Just for today Lord-I won’t smoke a cigarette. Or take harmful medications/drugs.
• Just for today Lord I don’t want to visit certain sites on the Internet.
• Just for today Lord I don’t want one negative word to come out of my mouth.
My dad drank whiskey right out of the bottle, at least a pint a day for well over 20 years. Every day until he simply passed out. Whiskey made him mean, abusive and angry. That’s a lot to overcome. I don’t care who you are. That’s a lot. But at the age of about 49 he put it down and decided he would never touch it again. And he didn’t. I asked him one day; I was an adult by that time, “how it was going for him.” He said well when I wake up in the morning, I sit up on the side of the bed and look up and say “Lord, you and I are going to take a drink today are we?” My dad knew you could not do it alone. He had tried way too many times already. One day at a time. That’s how we do it. Focus on your victories, whatever they might be-one day at a time.
4. Focus on the people who encourage you. Not the ones who hinder your progress. Not the ones who hold you back. When you begin to make real change you will begin to notice that some of the friends you have in your life are actually obstacles for you. Roadblocks. Enablers. Frankly they are in the way of your progress. Solomon said, “Do not be fooled; bad friends will ruin good habits.”
I said these things before... If you’re struggling with alcohol... You can’t say I think I’ll go to the bar with some of my buddies-but I’m just gonna sit and eat the peanuts. It’s. If you struggle with food addiction don’t hang out at the Golden Corral. If you struggle with pornography, as many men do, don’t hang out at the magazine rack or the wrong video stores. If you struggle with negativity, don’t hang out with Debbie Downer or Willie wet blanket; you know those people right? Find some friends who will encourage you.
5. Focus on God’s power. Stop focusing on yours. Willpower as we call it, is never enough anyway. If it was you would all have already made the changes you wanted to make right? Listen.
• A leopard can’t take away his spots.
• Zebra can’t take away his stripes.
• Can’t start doing it on your own because you were born with a sinful nature. But do focus on the fact that Paul said “I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.”
These are some of the ways we can change our minds. When you and I realize there is no limit to what God can do in our lives. God not only has the power, He has the desire. I often hear people say or see it on a bumper sticker that says “God is my copilot.” It sounds great. But if He’s not the one actually flying the plane, you’re in trouble. He is the pilot. We’re just the passengers.
Now two quick things. (1) Happiness is a choice. If you don’t have it, it is not someone else’s fault. It is because you have chosen otherwise. You’ve made bad choices, you’ve chosen the wrong friends or you have allowed the things in life to become more important than God himself. (2) Life is a whole lot about perspective. (spectacle) how you see things. Attitude. I really like what Chuck Swindoll says, I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to what happens.
• You are in charge of your choices
• you are in charge of your attitude
• you are in charge of your happiness
But I realize happiness can be very hard to find. Charles Schulz in his famous Peanuts cartoon strip gives us some perspective on this. You remember Lucy, right, and in this particular cartoon, Lucy is speaking, ranting about something, delivering one of her famous lectures to Charlie Brown. Listen Charlie Brown, life is a lot like a deck chair. Some place it on the boat so they can see where they are going. Others place it so they can see where they’ve been. And someplace it so they can see where they are right now. Charlie Brown says, hmm, I can’t even get mine unfolded.
David Ring has suffered from Cerebral Palsy since birth. His father died when he was 11. Cancer took his mother several years later. He was an orphan at the age of 14. Can you imagine? Depressed from the combination of losing his parents and the difficulties of his own disability, he dropped out of high school. He specifically struggled with the difficulty of losing his mother, the only woman he believed would ever love him. He attempted to commit suicide many times over the course of the following two years due to his depression. Then (in 1970), he gave his life to Jesus. He now preaches the gospel. He also now says I have cerebral palsy but cerebral palsy doesn’t have me. Do not let anyone define you by your flaws, by a disease you may have, by some defect you inherited or by a mistake you have made in the past. Let your life be defined by Jesus. He loves you. His grace is sufficient for everything and He will never leave you. Never fail you. Never turn His back on you. So keep your focus where it belongs---on Jesus—because He is the only one who can truly change your mind.
