Be Transformed by Renewing Your Mind

In Romans 12:2, Paul says we should not be conformed to the patterns of this world.

The question is, how much of our thinking is actually shaped by those patterns without us even realizing it?

In the Old Testament, there is a military leader called Naaman. He has a disease. A servant girl tells him very clearly, “Go to the prophet in Samaria.”

Naaman goes to his king. Nothing wrong there. He is just taking permission from his king. His king gives a letter to the king of Israel. So Naaman goes to the king of Israel, rather than to the prophet. Why?

He is a military leader. In his world, how does it work? A king meets a king. A military leader meets another military leader. Why should he go to a prophet?

His thinking is already shaped by the pattern of his world.

Even when he finally comes to the prophet, and the prophet says, “Go dip in the river,” again he struggles.

“This is it? It should be harder. I am suffering. I should do something big.”

He cannot understand that obedience can be simple. That healing can come just by trusting and doing what God says. Only when he lets go of his pattern and obeys, he gets healed.

We see the same thing even today.

People think salvation must be earned. It must be hard. They carry guilt, so they feel they must do something big.

But the truth is simple. Jesus has already paid. There is no condemnation. All I can do is receive and walk with Him.

Let us see another example.

In the New Testament, the wise men follow a star. They correctly understand a king is born. So where do they go? They go to the palace.

Because in their pattern, king means palace.

But the real King is in a manger.

Their understanding was right. But their pattern was wrong.

This is exactly what Paul is saying.

Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world.

Because even when you are sincere, even when you are trying to follow God, your mind will still go back to what it has been trained in.

Sincerity is not enough. If your thinking is wrong, your direction will be wrong.

That is why your mind has to be renewed.

If you actually read Romans, Paul builds this step by step.

He starts by saying creation itself reveals God. Then he talks about the law, that we know what is right, but we cannot do it. Then he brings in Jesus, salvation by faith. Then he says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. God works everything together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.

After saying all this, then he comes to chapter 12 and says, now your mind must be renewed.

He is not talking to unbelievers. He is talking to believers. You are saved. But your thinking still needs to change. Because all of us come from somewhere. Different families. Different cultures. Different habits. Different fears. And without even realizing, we are living by those patterns.

So I want to share three areas from my life where I had to renew my mind. Not theory. Real situations. And even now, I continue to renew my mind.

# 1. Personal Life

I am from a Catholic family. When I accepted the Lord, I was determined to follow the Bible.

I was studying in a residential college, so I would go home only during Christmas.

That Christmas, I refused to go to a Catholic church, determined to stay away from idols.

You can imagine what happened. There was chaos at home. We have never missed Christmas or New Year church. The whole family goes together.

Now suddenly I am not going.

My parents were upset. But it was more than that. That day there was tension in the house.

There were questions, arguments, weeping, cajoling… and me lying on the cot, turned to the other side, not saying a word. That made my father even more furious.

“Why are you doing this?”
“Who taught you this?”
“I knew this would happen if we sent you to this college.”
“This is how you repay us after all that we have done?”

I just lay there, facing the other side, holding my ground.

But inside, I was not at peace.

I was disturbed by everything happening around me.

I came back to the hostel. I kept reading the Bible.

Then I hit Romans 1.

Paul is listing all the sins. Murderers, adulterers, all kinds of things. And suddenly he says, “disobedient to parents.”

That shocked me.

I said, what? So I am in the same list as murderers?

Then I remembered the commandment, honor your father and mother, so that it will go well with you.

Now I am stuck.

I want to definitely avoid idol worship. But I also don’t want to disobey my parents.

What do I do? Both are commandments of God.

I didn’t have an answer. So I kept praying. Praying. Praying.

I even thought, maybe I should not go home next Christmas.

But I kept praying.

Next Christmas came. I went home. I spoke to my mom.

I said, “Mom, I will come to church, but I will not touch the idols.”

She agreed. My dad agreed.

I went. Like every year. We came back. We had family dinner. It was peaceful. It was good.

That is when I learned something.

When God’s commands seem to pull in different directions, prayer shows the way to walk in both.

There was another renewal in my personal life.

During exam time in the hostel, every morning in the canteen, people will ask, “Did you finish studying?”

Without thinking, I would say, “No.”

It was automatic.

Later I realized, it is coming from this belief: If you say yes, somebody will cast an evil eye and you will not do well. I didn’t even know I had this inside me.

One day I got convicted. Lying is wrong.

I came back to my room. I prayed, “Lord, change me.”

But even after that, for some time, I kept saying no. Then I would realize, I said it again. Like Paul says, I know what is right, but I am not able to do it. But I kept praying. Slowly, I started stopping myself.

People will ask, “Did you study?” I will say, “Yes, I studied 80 percent,” or “I finished five chapters.”

Immediately fear will come. What if I fail now?

Then I will pray, “Lord, you are my strength. You are my wisdom.” And I will go write the exam.

Something small. Something unconscious. But the Word of God exposed it, and God changed it.

# 2. Family Life

When it came to my marriage, I told my parents, “You take care of it.”

Because the Bible says, honor your father and mother.

One day, I was riding my motorbike from office to home. There is a railway crossing. As I crossed it, I heard a very clear voice.

“I will give you a praying wife.”

It was so clear, I actually stopped and turned back to see if someone spoke.

I held on to that. I kept praying.

In our culture, what happens? Even if you are a believer, when marriage comes, suddenly everything becomes caste, family circle, same culture.

But I held on to what the Lord said.

Through a series of events, I met my wife.

When I met her, she had only one condition.

“Will you allow me to go to church every Sunday?”

That is all she asked.

That is when I knew. This is from God.

God kept His promise.

I had to break out of cultural patterns to walk into His promise.

Even after marriage, renewal didn’t stop.

She thought her role is limited to bearing children, cooking 3 meals daily and keeping the house clean.

But I grew up seeing something different. My mother studied and earned more than my father. My sister has studied more than me and my brother-in-law, and earns more than both of us.

So I used to tell her, Proverbs 31 shows a completely different picture. She is active. She does many things. She is not limited.

It took time. But slowly, her mindset changed. At 47, she learned swimming. At 49, she learned driving. In between she also learned Hindi.

Because of all of these, she became more confident, more independent.

That is what happens when the mind is renewed by the Word. Culture limits you. Scripture liberates you.

# 3. Ministry and Calling

Renewal is not one time. It has to happen continually.

After a couple of years in the Lord, I attended a 10 day discipleship course.

On the last day, the man of God was prophesying over everyone. I had heard a lot about the prophetic prayer from others who attended earlier. They all said it is so true.

I was waiting with expectation in the queue.

For others, he would prophesy for a few minutes. I was praying and wondering what all he would prophesy.

When my turn came, he placed his hand and said one sentence.

“I will use you like Stephen.”

And he took his hand off. The usher pushed me.

I was shocked. That’s all?

And I thought, Stephen means martyr. I said, this is not for me.

I ignored the prophecy. I said, the old man lost it.

After about 10 years, I was speaking to a brother about prophecies and I shared this incident.

He said, “You misunderstood.”

Stephen was chosen as one of the first servants in the church.

Then it struck me.

I looked at my life.

I was translating for a pastor. Helping.

Later, when I started a startup, it failed in a year.

I was walking with my mentor, looking at the idea, team, execution, and funding.

At the end I asked, “What about me?”

He said, “You are not a CEO material. But any CEO will be lucky to have you as second in command.”

That confirmed it again.

I am a helper.

Not in the spotlight. In the background.

After that, wherever I go, I serve like that. Audio booth, support roles, helping elder. In churches. In the office, a CTO.

My mind had to be renewed even in understanding my calling.

One final thing.

Like many people, I thought after 50, I should slowly fade away.

That is what we hear everywhere. Then I read Proverbs. The path of the righteous shines brighter and brighter.

Then I read about Caleb. At 80, he says, I am as strong as 40.

That changed everything. Now I am not planning to slow down. I am planning to grow sharper.

Maybe the day I die will be my brightest day.

# Renew your mind

You are saved. Yes.

You believe in Jesus. Yes.

But your mind still carries patterns.

From family. From culture. From fear. From the world.

And unless you allow the Word of God to search you, convict you, and change you, you will continue to live by those patterns.

Renewal is not one time. It is daily.

In small things. In big decisions. In your personal life, your family, your calling.

When your mind is renewed, everything changes.

You begin to see differently. You begin to respond differently.

There is freedom. There is clarity.

Transformation does not start outside. It starts in the mind.

So the question is simple.

Where in your life are you still conforming?

And are you willing to let the Word of God search you and renew your mind?

Because that is where transformation happens. Not outside. Inside.

If you liked this, you might also like my other sermons.

Image from Kelly Sikkema