Can one’s life be transformed by the renewing of his mind through continued meditation of God’s word? From my own experience, yes, rather gradually. For me, the most popular passage has to be the following:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13: 4 to 8a)
The above embodies God’s character and His values (not entirely though as God is much much more). 1 John 4:16 says “God is love, and whoever abides in God, God abides in him.” As one goes through every word, it becomes clear that we (the mortal flesh) are very much the opposite of God’s character. Therefore, we need to be transformed to be more like Christ.
It is like while one end of the spectrum is God, the other end is man. Our sinful nature, that man in the flesh, whether hidden or otherwise, is too obvious. Man does not deserve salvation. It is all of grace, by Christ dying for us on the cross and paying the price of all of our sins.
Ingesting the above verses continually, we will experience a deep conviction by allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and with our spirit.
“LOVE IS PATIENT”
“LOVE IS KIND”
“LOVE DOES NOT ENVY”
“LOVE DOES NOT BOAST”
“LOVE IS NOT PROUD”
“LOVE DOES NOT DISHONOUR OTHERS” (I like the Chinese version “LOVE IS NOT DOING SHAMEFUL THINGS”)
“LOVE IS NOT SELF-SEEKING”
“LOVE IS NOT EASILY ANGERED.”
“LOVE DOES NOT KEEP RECORDS OF WRONGS”
“LOVE DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL BUT REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH.”
“LOVE ALWAYS PROTECTS”
“LOVE ALWAYS TRUSTS”
“LOVE ALWAYS HOPES”
“LOVE ALWAYS PERSEVERES”
“LOVE NEVER FAILS”
Word by word, we realise how much we have fallen short. But the point is, to correct ourselves using our own intellect will be disappointing. It should become our character. For instance, if we have to remind ourselves that “Honesty is the Policy”, that means we still have to use our intellect. Being honest is just our character, our values, our way of life. We need not have to ponder.
Surrender our lives to Jesus. It is wonderful to realise that this mortal being, by continually meditating on His Word, will help us to gravitate towards a Godly nature… to be a man after God’s heart. Let the Holy Spirit minister to our hearts.
The short and sharp is “meditating on God’s word.” Meditating means continually memorising His word in a prayerful manner from the heart. A simple analogy can be drawn from comparing between “raw rice” and “cooked rice”. One could then use the raw rice to represent “Logos”, while “cooked rice” to represent “Rhema.” How then can raw rice become cooked rice? Very simple. You just add water to the raw rice and switch on the rice cooker. The cooking process is the meditating process. Gradually, it becomes cooked rice. Adding the water is to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our spirit.
Cooked rice can now be eaten. It provides energy and nourishment (to our spirit and soul). No wonder Jeremiah said that “When your words came, I ate them, they were my joy and my heart’s delight…”(Jeremiah 15:16)
The Psalmist in Chapter 1:2,3 says, being delighted with the law, he meditates on His word day and night. What happens after that? “He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and its leaf does not wither-whatever he does, he prospers.” Hallelujah, it is certainly no secret. Every believer who believes in His word and follows its instruction will be blessed, and bear forth fruit.
Romans 12: 2 says : “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. ”
“ye” is an encapsulation of our spirit and soul. Both can be transformed only if our mind is renewed. In other words, if our mind is not renewed, our spirit and soul will not be transformed. We still are of the flesh, to all intents and purposes. A transformed life will be able to prove what is 1. good, 2. acceptab and 3. perfect will of God. Why? Because a transformed life will be doing what Jesus does because what Jesus does id always 1. good 2. acceptable and perfect, because he is doing the will of God. Our spirit will be healthy and our soul will be healthy.
A transformed life has “his eyes fixed not on things he can see, but on things that he cannot see. Because things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal.”(2 Cor 4:18). For a long time, I have been asking myself this question: “How can I fix my eyes on things that cannot be seen?” Basically, we ought to “walk by faith, not by sight.”(2 Cor 5:7). Walking by faith means having an eternal perspective.
Galatians 5:16: “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Can we in short, say that a transformed life is one that is obedient to the Spirit, and has no desire for anything that is of the flesh. His mind is made anew. He loves the Bible. He loves the Lord. He will not have any desire to even think of anything sinful. How can we tell if a person’s life has been transformed? Just look at the fruits and we know if it is a good tree or bad tree.
A bad tree bears forth bad fruits: Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatory and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition. dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies.
A good tree bears forth good fruit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,and self control. Aren’t these found in the above when we meditate on “LOVE”?
A good tree needs continued nourishment and care, it will then continue to mature and bear forth even more abundant fruits. If it is not cared for, insects and diseases will come to attack and destroy. When that happens, the tree may end up bearing bad fruit. I have a fig tree that is 5 years old. It used to give me good and juicy fruits, but of late, the fruits turn tasteless and drop to the ground even before they ripen. Have we seen a zealous God-fearing church member disappearing from church and ended up denying Christ?
Let us be steadfast, loving God more each day. In the parable of the 10 virgins, let us be one of the wise 5 virgins and abundant oil, and keep burning. When the bridegroom appears, we are ready.
Paul boldly declared “to live is Christ, to die is gain.”(Phil 1:21). He acknowledged that our life on earth is brief. So let us enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Can we do likewise?
Glory Be To our God!
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