Being Transformed

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
- Paul's Letter to the Romans Chapter 12: 1-2
St. Paul is exhorting us to renewing our mind. The word renew as defined by the dictionary as to restore to a former state; make new or as if new again. What is the former state? I believe it is the childlike trust that Jesus describes in Matthew 18:1-5. Your mind is influenced by many things; what you read, what you hear, what you see, an emotional experience good or bad, your friends, your family, your spouse. If your the input is the daily news, the rubbish that makes up most of television today, and your heart is invested in the earthly treasures of wealth, power and material goods how can you be renewed? If the people you hang around and work with have not God in their lives how can you be renewed? If you only read the newspaper, books on making money, new age gurus, pop psychology, romance novels and not the Word of God, how can you be renewed? If your life is about you first and your sole purpose is to work to acquire material things how can you be renewed? Being transformed is a process, it is a movement in the direction of God. It is imperative to recognize whether you are moving or not. One way is to do a daily examination of yourself - am I acting in a way that is evident that the Holy Spirit is working in my life. Another way is to get spiritual direction - allowing someone to listen to what is going on in your life and to give you direction as to which way to go. Read the Bible, Scripture is God speaking to us, guiding us, correcting us, leading us on a path to Him. Pray - time must be set aside to converse with God, to let Him know that you love Him, need Him, trust Him, and desire Him to grow more and more in your life. As John writes(Chapter 3:30) He must increase, but I must decrease.