I’ll not forget sitting on the deck of my in-laws cottage on Lake George. It was early morning and I was reading my Bible–Romans 12 that day. I was fairly young in the Lord at the time and hungry to change. When I came to verse 2, the words “be transformed” jumped out at me. I could be different–totally transformed! How? By renewing my mind.

Since that day I have prayed most days as I open my Bible, “Father, thank You for Your Word. Please speak to my heart, renew my mind, feed my spirit, and heal my body. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Learning to think differently has everything to do with everything in God. You will never be who God wants you to be, you will never do what God wants you to do, and you will never get where God wants you to go, apart from mind renewal. It is the means to total transformation. Success in God, albeit in relationships, health, finance, or ministry, hinges on a godly mindset.

The amazing thing about Romans 12:2 is that it points us to who were are on the inside.

Kenneth Wuest’s translation of Romans 12:2, a more literal rendering of the Greek, paints a picture we all need to embrace.

“Stop assuming an outward expression that does not come from within you and is not representative of what you are in your inner being but is patterned after this age; but change your outward expression to one that comes from within and is representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your mind.”

Pastor Dave Williams says that your outer kingdom is a reflection of your inner kingdom. Here it is in Scripture! The apostle Paul tell us we’re to be on the outside what we already are on the inside. What needs to happen is a change in our outward expression, and this happens by learning to think differently.

This simple truth has revolutionized my life. I have come to realize who and what I am in Christ; God has made me to be a completely new person, a new creation. My responsibility is to lay hold of this and work out in the day-to-day what God has already worked in me. I’m to be on the outside what I already am on the inside.

Transformation for the believer is akin to Jesus’ transfiguration on the mount. In fact, transformation and transfiguration are the same thing! Jesus was transfigured before the disciples. What He was on the inside showed up on the outside. This is God’s plan for us, and it all plays out as we learn to think about ourselves differently.