Renew, then Transform
What story are you telling about yourself? Take today’s lesson to see if it’s time for an edit.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)
I glanced in the mirror, lowered my eyes and walked away. I was overweight. My clothes stretched across me. My jeans felt like a vise grip, yet I refused to go spend money on new clothes that upped in size one more time. I felt helpless and hopeless, but most of all I chastised myself for not taking better care of this temple called my body. I had been overweight since childhood and the more I dieted, the more I’d gain it all back as soon as I got off the diet. I’d lose the gumption to even try to lose weight, and the inches and pounds would creep on month after month, year after year.
I’d looked to God for strength in times of trouble, doubt and sorrow. Why had I determined my weight was my battle alone? I knew the answer. Because gluttony is a sin and I felt ashamed. How could I present my body in its current state? I was anything but a holy, good, acceptable or perfect offering. Even though my faith-voice knew better, I had slipped into the “I have to win His favor for Him to be pleased with me ” mode—a lesson I learned from my earthly father, not my Heavenly one. The “present my body” part of the verse was my stumbling block.
When I read the next verse, five words leaped out at me – “the renewal of your mind”. That was the key to transforming my resolve, and my body, to become a healthier witness so God could use me to His glory. My attitude needed to be renewed. If I adjusted my attitude and looked to Him for strength instead of approval, I could learn to crawl, then walk, and eventually run this race towards a healthier body and more importantly, a healthier body image. He could transform me, if I let Him. But, renewal had to come first.
Here is the best part: I didn’t have to undertake the renewing alone. Our Lord is in the renewal business. All I needed to do was to hand Him this part of my life. Which is easier said than done. It meant confessing my weaknesses and failures. But I knew my loving God would embrace me. I didn’t have to please Him by becoming more perfect, I just needed to be willing to let Him do the transforming. He’d give me the strength and determination to make the lifestyle changes.
What are you battling alone? Consider why that is. It just may be an old learned behavior that you must first un-learn. God is calling you to renew your mind so it can be transformed. That may mean coming to Him as you are, broken and weak. But you come, not as a child facing the whipping belt or time out in the corner, but as a child of the Creator of the universe who loves you whole heartedly and sees what is good and acceptable and can be made perfect in you. He is waiting for you to bend your will to His so He can help you in that renewal process. He is standing there, sleeves rolled up and ready to begin the transformation. All you need to do is whisper, “Okay. I am ready. Help me do this.”
Father, Help me to let go of these things I cling to so tightly. I want to be transformed. Renew my mind so I can be more like You. Amen
Questions: What is blocking you from renewing your mind when it comes to a certain struggle in your life? Pride? Guilt? Low self-worth? Hopelessness? Fear of failing ? again? Will you give it to God and let Him transform you?
10 Responses to “Renew, then Transform”
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Thank you to each one for writing in and sharing your heart on this wonderful devotional; I, too, can deeply relate and am greatly touched by Julie’s words. As I give my heart more and more to Christ and trust in His unconditional love and acceptance of me, I find that I am able to turn to Him in a deeper way for comfort, and need the comfort of food and other behaviours, such as eating, less and less. Truly, the Lord is renewing my mind, and I have never known such peace in my life. I pray for each one of you: Joanne, Linda, Betty, BC, Pam, Nancy, Rosanne, Kahu, E, and Julie that the Lord blesses you deep in your soul and gives you that special gift of being still and knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is God in every aspect of your lives, so that you may turn over all to Him. May you be set free from every bondage, and may you walk free in the glorious Light of Christ’s love all the days of your life. I pray these things in Jesus’ holy and precious name. Amen.
Thank you, Julie, for such a beautiful, honest, and refreshing article. I so appreciate you!
This is so me…and something I personally am battling too. Thank you for reminding me how God is ever present — whether we are on the mountain or in the valley. I pray this date he will transform me and take away my desire for “comfort foods” during times of stress which are just making me more obese. I appreciate the honesty & courage of Ms. Cosgrove with this devotional.
I can relate to this article. My situation was similiar and somewhere in all this I had to change and I knew this change wasn’t going to be as easy as putting the weight on. I prayed long and hard on this and when the answer did come I had to get my mind in line first to start to accomplish this goal of weight loss. I ask the Lord to give me strength to go through this and keep me focused to take on the task. I had to take baby steps at first because I needed to resists certain cravings and sacrefice my favorite foods. I did lose about twenty pounds in about three months. that was easy. However, keeping it off and trying to balance that weight was hardest. I met a dietician that prayed with me, she told me that some people have a hard time maintaining weight loss because it is sometimes used as a need for comfort, and some are like just like food. So, I have found that in this weight loss regime for me is a life changing addiction and I have to eat healthy for the rest of my life. I’m still struggling to keep the wieght off, I still continue to pray until something happens, and I am still continuing on the task of weight loss inch by inch. this is what works for me. I pray that those who take that good look in the mirror will pray until something happens and once your mind is set to do just do it a little at a time.
thanks
I too find this timely… I am very accomplished and I have a great job that uses all that I have learned throughout all my degrees, nevertheless, there are many times where I feel like I’m a failure. There are people who make an effort to make me out a failure, but that really shouldn’t bother me. At times, though, it does. I know everything that I have accomplished is all the Lord & I praise him always for what He has given me. I just need that self-confidence in myself that I am worthy of the gifts that He has given me.
So well written. Thanks for the encouragement.
You know those moments in church when you feel that the pastor must know your whole life story because it feels like he’s speaking directly to you? This would be one of those moments. I have the same struggle… yet I refuse to give control over to God. With each child, more weight has stayed settled on my middle, and instead of letting God renew me, mind, spirit, and BODY, I cling to my bad eating habits for comfort instead of turning to Him. Thank you for this moment of revelation and clarity.
Dear Julie, Very good devotional! Thank you for opening up and sharing one of your struggles with us. Not to many people are willing to open up and share their problem areas like gluttony to others. It gets the best of many of us, but with the Holy Spirits help we can overcome whatever we are over indulging in.
I too was over weight when I was young then I went to the opposite spectrum and ended up extremely under-weight…finding a healthy balance in this area of food, healthy eating and moderate exercise is worth every effort we put into it along with God’s help so we can present our bodies to Him as healthy and unblemished as is possible.
Have I arrived yet at this healthy balance???? No! But at least I am not where I used to be and headed in the right direction with the renewal of my mind and then the body follows.
These are such good words of encouragement. I feel as if I fail at so many important things in my life – my weight, my fiances, my family. I pray – In Jesus Name – that He help me to let go of these things that I cling to so tightly and transform me, renew my mind so I can be more like You, Father.
wonderful reminder that God is our court and desiring us to Renew our mind. Blessings
Thank you Julie for such an encouraging devotional today. Made me even shed some tears. So very true that God is with us through all our hard times but turning truly to Him and renewing our minds is where we need to go.
Thanks