Today it's popular to think that you are what you want to be, but the truth is we are all a product of our genes, background, environment, and choices. The scriptures put a lot of emphasis on those last two.
One of the more popular passages in the Bible, Romans 12:1-2, says
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Because of the mercy God has shown us, Paul says, we ought to live our lives to God. So, don't be conformed to this world.
One of the things that always strikes me anew when I read that passage is that the verbs in verse 2 are passive. It's not "don't conform yourself to this world;" it's "don't let this world conform you to itself." Conforming to the world is something that just happens to you. Being transformed is also something that is done to you.
The other thing is that this is binary. There are only two choices — if you're not being transformed, you are being conformed to the world.
If this just happens to me, what can I do about it? I can choose to renew my mind. That is the catalyst. God's Word does the transforming, but I choose to submit myself to it.
How do we renew our minds? My filling our minds with God's word (and obeying what we find there). Of course, that's easier said than done. So I want to go over some ways I've found to be helpful.
Before I start, though, I want to put a caveat of sorts on what follows. The instruction to renew our minds was given before much of the NT was written. When it was given, and for long afterwards, most believers didn't have their own copy of the scriptures, in fact most were illiterate. So we shouldn't insist that the only way to renew your mind is to read the Bible daily. If the ancients could meditate on the scriptures without having a copy of them, then we can too. But it's a whole lot easier with a Bible.
And if the modern world has given us wonderful new ways to get into the word, it has also given the world new ways to get into us. Once upon a time, people lived in little bubbles. Now we are continually bombarded by ideas from all around the world. TV, radio, billboards, bus ads, and the internet are an inescapable part of life for most in the West. The world is constantly trying to conform us to itself. We have to push back hard if we want to be transformed.
Here are some things that can help.
➤ First and foremost, we are best transformed by the word of God by spending time in the word of God. How much time? As much as you can. Five minutes a day is better than nothing, but how well is that going to counter 12 hours of inundation by the world? Quality is more important than quantity, but quantity is important. How can we get more Bible in?
I just came across something that I should have known, but it surprised me. You can read half of the books in the Bible in less than 30 minutes. Most of the rest can be read in about the same amount of time as a movie or ball game. We have the time to spend in the word if we choose to use it wisely.
Do you have a smart phone? If so, you've got a Bible in your pocket. But you know that — you probably use it at church. So use it when you're in line at the grocery store, when you're in the bathroom, or when you're waiting on your kids. Make use of that dead time.
Another way to get more time in the Bible is to listen to it. There are tons of audio Bible versions out there. You can listen while you commute or while you do the dishes.
➤ OK, here I get a little more controversial: Spending time in the Bible isn't the only thing you can do. In fact, I think we'd just block it out if we just listened to it on repeat. So put Bible-saturated things in your life.
A devotional guide is not a Bible. But it can be a good way to start a day or take a coffee break and refocus on what's important. There are a lot of bad daily devotionals, but there are also a lot of good ones. Do a little research and find some. This year I've been trying to start my day with Tim Keller's devotional through Proverbs called God's Wisdom for Navigating Life. Next year it will probably be his Psalms devotional. Starting your day, or spending a few minutes at lunch, with Spurgeon or Stott or Tozer or Yancey is a good way to get a little more Bible and a little more biblical worldview in your day.
Just as the Bible is on audio, so are lots of good Christian books. That's actually how I get most of my "reading" done. Time in a good Christian book is not time in the Bible. But it's also time you're not being taught to think like the world. Invest in some good ones or see if you can get some from your library (which probably has access to more than you think). Hit up ChristianAudio.com's twice a year sale. If you've got an Alexa device or app, it can read Kindle books to you (I don't know about the other "digital assistants" out there).
Of course, Christian books are basically just long sermons (or sermon series). You can also listen to actual sermons. Besides the radio, a great many pastors put their sermons out in podcast form or on YouTube. I hope you have a wonderful pastor, but that doesn't mean you can't also benefit from RC Sproul, Chuck Swindoll, or Tony Evans. There are also online lectures you can access for free, eg, BiblicalTraining.org.
And there is lots of apologetics content out there — Stand to Reason, Ravi Zacharias, Sean McDowell, and Frank Turek are just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots of great budding apologists on YouTube these days. Not only will these things shore up your Christian worldview and teach you to answer the objections to Christianity the culture throws at us, they'll teach you how to think, how to approach issues you've never encountered before.
A lesser thing for sure, but I think there's value in listening to good Christian music, too — where "good" means theologically sound. There is music than runs off the rails, but it usually (not always, though) doesn't get played on the radio. Music can teach, but I think it primarily serves the role of reminding us what we already know.
I am not saying you should stop watching TV altogether, stop going to ball games, stop listening to your other podcasts, or stop listening to non-religious music. I'm saying switch some of that for this. I'll admit, I believe the more the better, but anything you add is an improvement over it not being there.
When I started my current job, my commute was mostly to the sound of talk radio. I arrived at work agitated. By the time I got home, between work, traffic, and politics, I was walking in the door angry. Our entertainment choices do shape us.
Now I fill most of the silences of my day with things that point me toward God, remind me of what we're supposed to believe, or help me think well. I think I see positive changes in me over the years. I'm not yet what I want to be, but I'm definitely not what I used to be. I'm more patient, less suspicious, and less quick to speculate about motives. When conflict arises, I feel like I start from a much healthier place than I use to.
I think I'm a better person for it. I think you would be too.
Recommended reading: How to Change Your Mind
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