Reply To: Christian Character Discussion Board 2

[Ezeonugo02]

Name Name: Ezeonugo Ijeoma Chika
Course title: Christian character 105 LC
Topic : The renewal of the mind is central to the development of your character as a believer. Write a post on 5 ways renewing your mind can help develop your character as a Christian.
Renewing your mind according to Romans 12:2 indicates that renewing the mind will renew or transform your life. To renew or change the mind requires changing what goes into it. Our behavior is driven by our most strongly-held beliefs.
Renewing your mind aligns your mind with the truth of God’s word by learning to recognize the lies of the enemy, replace them with the truth of God’s word .

Ways renewing our mind helps us develop our character as a chirstian:
When you renew your mind with God’s words, you are conforming to God’s image. You begin to think like God and to act like God.
Your worldview changes and becomes more in line with God’s worldview. Bad characters begin to disappear. Your mind starts dwelling more on thoughts of God and what He thinks and does.
There is a clear reason for all this happening. God tells us in (1 Thessalonian 5:22), we are a spirit, we have a soul (which is our mind, will, and emotions), and we live in a body.
As we also renew our mind, the fruits of the Spirit ( Gal 5 vs 22-23) will be maginifed in us, we become like God daily and in return, it will be visible for others to see.

1.  As you keep renewing you mind you start loving others differently like God loves because one of God’s character is love, The Bible says, “God is love,” in 1 John 4:8b, NIV,  he gave his son to undeserving human, we too can love like him not because people deserves it but because the word of God (which is one of the tools we use for mind renewal) says we should love unconditionally.

2. Your thoughts, pattern and your way of life will change:
Paul encourages believers in Phillipians 2 vs 15, to put off their worldly ways of living because the world is at enmity with God. (James 4.4) as you keep renewing your mind you start shedding off thoughts that doesn’t align with the way God thinks and start acting like him.
Phillipians 4 vs 8 listed what our thoughts pattern should follow, and because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, we start acting on those pure and noble things that filled our hearts Matt 12 vs 34-40.

3. You will develop self control and self discipline:
Self control is discipline in the face of pressure from an immediate urge, it means delay immediate gratification of the senses, self discipline is about maintaining focus and focus in pursuing long-term goals.
God shows us self control in Romans 8 vs 32 by sacrificing his son, so that he will have many sons. Jesus exhibited both, because insipte of the devil plans to deter his plan ,he maintained the reason he came to earth (Matt 26 vs 53-54), he demonstrated self control by submitting to God’s plan.
As we renew our mind we come to the acknowledgement that God has deposited in us self Control (2 Timothy 1 vs 7) and the Holy Spirit who has been given to us will help us stay focus and not let the world’s standards be ours.
Self control is submission to God and ability to keep our emotions in check. In Matthew 21vs 12-13, Jesus was angry and destroyed the table of those selling in the temple, he did it in total submission to God, so while we are developing self control our primary focus remains on what God wants us to do.

4. As we continue to renew our mind we put off pride and start growing in humility:
Jesus does whatever he saw his father do and the Bible recorded that Jesus lived on this earth in humility, Phil 2 vs 5- 8, (John 5 vs 30), as we change daily in our mindset we stop boasting on things we have or who we are, and start being more like Chirst who shed all he had and gave it all for our sake.
Another example is Paul, he was recognized in the society  (Acts 13)  but in 2 Corinthians 12, he said he humbled himself and only boast in God.
As we renew our mind we start measuring our life based on God’s standards and not by man’s standards.

5. You will have long suffering as God does:
Long suffering is the ability to forbear a situation which is in most cases related to someone, it deals with negative actions and attitude towards others.
One character of God is long suffering  (2 Peter 3vs 9, Roman 2 vs 4.) We start to develop such patience and long suffering towards other because we are emulating God and we are to live like him, we will be slow to anger towards other and our anger towards God (for most people when they didn’t receive what the ask from God) will be eliminated, James 1 vs 9.