What’s Familiar to You?

Scripture: Romans 12:2 –Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

---

Reflection: I remember, years ago, reading the book Cover Girls, by TD Jakes. There is an excerpt in this book that gave me pause, and it reads:

“Be careful what you get used to. If you don’t watch out, you can become accustomed to negative things, things the Father never wanted you to have, like pain or abuse. Some people have become used to poverty. Some have become used to fighting. They feel at home in pain. They cleave to it because they understand it.”

So, my question to you today, is what have you become used to? What “things” have become familiar to you? And then, I wonder, how do we begin the process of renewing our minds to let go of those “things?” We know, because of Romans 12:2, that it’s possible. There is a way to let go of the negative things we have held onto for, in my case, generations.

You probably won’t have to think too hard about what has become familiar to you. What generational curses have followed you from the lives of your ancestors? What familiar things have you created in your own life? Is it brokenness, poverty, gossip, abuse, unforgiveness?

For me, I had to start telling myself a different story. When I felt the spirit of unforgiveness creeping into my mind, I had to immediately tell myself “I must forgive because I have been forgiven.” Or, “I must forgive in order to be forgiven.” Over and over I had to train my mind to think differently.

I’m no longer broken because Thessalonians 5:23 says that the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together – spirit, soul, and body – and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is my new narrative. I might feel broken because of the things that have happened in my life, but I’m made whole because of God’s grace.

This week find a new story. Begin to form a new narrative. Look to the One who loves you most, to begin the renewal of your mind.

---

Prayer: My God, my Savior, thank You for giving me a new mind. Help me today to release those harmful things in my life, as I discern Your will from the false stories I have made true. My prayer today is that I can bind those things, in the name of Jesus. Bind them through prayer, fasting and believing that You have a plan for me that is much bigger than the plan I have for myself. When I carry the weight of my past, I can’t focus on becoming new – so help me clear the chatter in my mind telling me I must conform to my past. I’m a new person in You. Whole, confident and full of joy everlasting. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.