Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life
Bascially a "carnal" (flesh-ruled) Christian is one who claims Christ in the heart, but lives according to the desires of the flesh, not according to the purposes and holiness of God. Romans 8:5 (NIV), says, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires."
What is a mindset? 1) It is a belief that affect somebody’s attitude. 2) A habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations
What is an attitude? 1) A personal view of something 2) A manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation of the mind.
The only way to consistently live "in accordance with the Spirit" is to allow the Word and Spirit of God to change your thinking, habits, and behavior. Refusing this change and growth is both foolish and dangerous. More importantly, there is no good reason not the change for the better since grace has been given to us for that purpose.
Read the following passages of Scripture from three Bible versions. While reading, ask yourself, "According to God's word, how should I think and order my everyday life?"
Rom 12:1 (NKJV) 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. 2 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.
Rom 12:1 (NLT) And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Rom 12:1-2 (Message) So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
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