One of the core verses that focus upon spiritual formation is Romans 12:1-2.[1] The need for a replacement of the world’s teaching is needed on a daily basis with the truth of God’s Word. The passage speaks about the transforming of the mind by the Word of God. The Scripture renews and helps us to be all we need to be for Christ. Paul tells us that we should offer our bodies to God because that is the most reasonable way to show our service to Him. The mind is the vehicle by which we connect with God with our soul. Truth is a powerful thing, God desires us to know truth and study it to become strong in His strength. A human is made up of two things, the soul and the body. The human soul has many capacities within its structure; the mind controls thoughts and beliefs. The spirit is the part through which the person relates to God. The mind has a large role in transformation, including the belief, behavior, and character. Thoughts and beliefs are contained in the mind, intellectual development, and the renewal of the mind. A person’s mind is powerful and is a gift from God. The mind also plays a role in what a person is able to see, will, feel, and desire. The need for daily transformation will help clear minds of junk and reinsert true, reasonable formations of truth. A person must have peace and serenity to be able to use your mind and develop it to be confident. A confident mind is one that is free to follow the truth wherever it leads. We must have humility in order to be intellectually strong in the Lord. We must not react to debate in anger, 2 Timothy 2:24 says, “and a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient.” This is the key for a person to be open to other views, but have an inner confidence from their own self-study in why they believe what they believe. When we die daily to ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, empower us to minister, there comes a confidence in our relationship with Christ. When the mind is controlled by God’s word, it produces a passion for God.
A godly passion leads to daily surrender to offer up your body as a living sacrifice.[2] A person that surrenders daily to God will live in cooperation with God. The truth is that God speaks loudest to the people who are surrendered to Him.
[1] “Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.”
[2] “…To offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do 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. Romans 12:1-2