Series: From Pastor’s Desk
Number: Vol. 14, No. 18
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the last day of this month and also to the first week of the ninth month of the year, the month of September 2025. My prayer is that God will see to it that all the good things He has in store for you in the remaining months of the year become yours indeed, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we begin this new week, I want to counsel you with the word of Apostle Paul that say: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom 12:2NIV)
Why does he tell us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world? The reason is that we are now children of God. Before we became children of God, we all used to live according to the ways of the people of this world. We talked as they talk. We reasoned as they reason. We dressed as they dress. And we ran after the things they run after.But now that we are God’s children, we are expected to live differently. Yes, we are expected to live like children of God and not like children of the devil.
We will, however, not live differently from those of this world, if we still continue to think the way they think. We may be attending church meetings, praying in the name of Jesus and even carrying bibles around. But as long as we are thinking like those of this world, we will not live lives that are different from theirs in the way we talk, dress and treat others.
See, people live the way they live because of the way they think. So, if you want them to change the way they live, you will have to change the way they think. All this is why Paul does not just tell us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world but also tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. What will bring about the transformation of our lives? It is the renewing of our minds. Now how do we renew our minds? How do we cleanse our minds so that they begin to think differently from the way those of the world think? It is by giving ourselves to the word of God.
As we give ourselves to His word, we will begin to think differently – we will begin to think in the light of His will for us. And the more we think in the light of His will for us, the more we are transformed to be the people He wants us to be.Paul, for instance, who brought this counsel of the Spirit to us used to be an injurious and wicked person. Yet he later became one of the greatest Christians that ever lived. In fact, he was so sure of the transformation his life had experienced that he could tell other Christians to imitate him (1Cor 11:1).
How did that happen? It happened through his devotion to the word of God. It was the word of God that changed his thinking. And as his thinking was being changed by the word of God, his life was also being transformed. Then, at some point, everyone around him could see that he had become a truly changed person – he had become like Christ.Now since Paul personally experienced these things, he is telling us too to take advantage of the word of God to change our thinking. That is how our lives will be changed to be what God wants them to be. So, give yourself to the word of God in order for it to change how you think. And before you know it, your life will be changed to be exactly what God wants it to be.
Have a lovely week.