"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
There is a comic strip that started several years ago and still exists today that focused on a family with several young children. In one installment something had happened and the parents questioned the children as to who had caused the problem. The response from the children inspired a reoccurring joke in the comic of a character they called "Not Me" because this was supposedly the person who was behind the problems. All of the children insisted that they were guilt free and the culprit was "Not Me", which of course was not true.
One reason this joke in the comic had such a long-lasting impact was because this idea is something familiar to many people, when something happens it was "Not Me" who caused the problem. We tend to not want to take responsibility for things and we will often first look for someone or something else to blame as the source of our problems. It is much easier to believe that someone else is at fault for our troubles than it is to look at ourselves to see what we could change to resolve our problems, but the Bible is very clear that we are responsible for our own lives.
Throughout the New Testament we are taught that we must control our bodies and renew our minds. If we do not present our body to God as a living sacrifice and we let our natural desires run wild it will cause nothing but trouble. If we fail to change our thinking to line up with what we see in the Bible and we do not control our emotions the results will not be good. We cannot just blame other people, our circumstances, or even the devil for all our problems. We need to fill ourselves with God's Word, be a doer of the Word, follow the direction of the Holy Spirit, and allow God to work in us and help us live the life He has prepared for us.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
There is a comic strip that started several years ago and still exists today that focused on a family with several young children. In one installment something had happened and the parents questioned the children as to who had caused the problem. The response from the children inspired a reoccurring joke in the comic of a character they called "Not Me" because this was supposedly the person who was behind the problems. All of the children insisted that they were guilt free and the culprit was "Not Me", which of course was not true.
One reason this joke in the comic had such a long-lasting impact was because this idea is something familiar to many people, when something happens it was "Not Me" who caused the problem. We tend to not want to take responsibility for things and we will often first look for someone or something else to blame as the source of our problems. It is much easier to believe that someone else is at fault for our troubles than it is to look at ourselves to see what we could change to resolve our problems, but the Bible is very clear that we are responsible for our own lives.
Throughout the New Testament we are taught that we must control our bodies and renew our minds. If we do not present our body to God as a living sacrifice and we let our natural desires run wild it will cause nothing but trouble. If we fail to change our thinking to line up with what we see in the Bible and we do not control our emotions the results will not be good. We cannot just blame other people, our circumstances, or even the devil for all our problems. We need to fill ourselves with God's Word, be a doer of the Word, follow the direction of the Holy Spirit, and allow God to work in us and help us live the life He has prepared for us.
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