I understand that it is God’s Will that I be sanctified. And I understand from Romans 12:1-2 that I am transformed by renewing my mind. How do I renew my mind so all the Spiritual Gifts in my spirit can be released ? I understand that until I do this, my mind remains with the leftover old programming from my old nature ! My biggest area of defeat is my emotions and anger in particular. Thank you so much for this web site and all your sound spiritual advice.
In Romans 12:1-2 Paul admonished us to offer our whole being as a living sacrifice. This means yielding completely to the Lord, retaining none of the autonomous control we are used to exercising over our lives. We are not to conform any longer to the self-centered humanistic tendencies that have governed our actions in the past, but are to be totally submissive to the Lord’s will for us. As for what His will for us is and how we’ve been gifted to accomplish it, we’ll discover that as we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
In Ephesians 4:22-24 Paul explained this as making the choice to put off our old selves and being made new in the attitudes of our mind. This implies we have a choice about our behavior. We can refuse to continue to behave in the manner we’re accustomed to, choosing instead to behave in a way that’s pleasing to the Lord. Ephesians 4:25-32 gives some specific examples to consider.
Some of our old behavior is so deeply ingrained that it seems like we’ve always been this way. Paul referred to this behavior as an enemy stronghold. In 2 Cor. 10:3-5 he said we’ve been given weapons with divine power and can demolish these strongholds by taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ.
All this is easier said than done, but with the Holy Spirit’s guidance anyone can accomplish it.