When my children were younger, we often visited a primitive farm in central Ohio and had a ball playing old fashioned games, making corn husk dolls, thumbing through century old Sears and Roebucks catalogs, and exploring the rooms of the antique farm house.  Learning to work in the garden and feed the animals was fun too since they continued to use 19^th century tools and techniques.

The part that was not fun for me was to visit the pig pen.  I have never in my life seen or smelled any animals so repulsive.  However, that was their nature.  They seemed to love their comfortable manure pile and their trough full of rancid slop.  

To make the visit more pleasant, I suppose we could have taken the pigs, bathed them, applied some deodorant and perfume, and given them a clean and sweet new home.  Perhaps we could offer them a fresh, succulent dinner to replace the rot.  We could even give the pigs a motivational speech about changing their behaviors and learning about personal hygiene.  However, I am sure you can imagine exactly what they would do once we finished.  They would run straight for the mud and manure piles and joyfully rolled all around in it.  

You see, bathing a pig on the outside does not change its nature.  It will continue to be a pig and will never stop loving its “fragrant” environment.  It is just the way they are!

Similarly for us, we cannot change our lives simply by trying to clean up on the outside.  Changing our behaviors and habits are not enough in themselves if we want lasting change.  True transformation must begin on the inside, with our hearts and our minds.  Our minds are the central control stations of who we are, and renewal must begin there, and on a daily basis.  Then, the outside change we seek will be genuine and lasting.

It is so easy to just conform to the patterns of this world without even thinking about it.  We become like our surroundings.  It comes to us automatically.  Renewing our minds requires intentional submission and thought habits.

Transforming our lives must be from the inside out.  Cleaning up the outward appearance and behaviors has little value without first surrendering our hearts completely to Him and renewing our minds.  Our minds are the control center of who we are. We have the power to choose our thoughts and our mindsets.  Our minds are renewed through His Word.  His truth will transform the way we see ourselves and others, and the way we live.  His Word brings healing to our minds, our emotions, and our damaged self-esteem. That is why we need to saturate our minds with his Word every day! 

Begin each day with Him in Bible study, prayer, and meditation.  Allow Him to speak to my heart and to transform my thinking.  To keep my mind steadfast on Him, and to submit my thinking to the obedience of Christ.

Improve focus and concentration.

To be more disciplined about my morning routine.

To guard the input I allow into my mind.

To be intentional about my thinking and to align my thoughts in accordance to His Word.

To shed old habits and to live a life of being set apart.

“Cleaning up our life is just an external fix to an internal situation. To be truly changed we must have interior work done, a work that starts at the processing station of our life:  our mind.”

“What we think eventually becomes a belief, and we live by what we really believe not by what we say we believe.”

“God allows us the opportunity each day to choose whom we will serve, whom we will live for, which road we will travel.  When we choose life and the Lord, our choice affects our children, and their children. There is a lot at state, and choosing God’s way has eternal ramifications.”

“One thing is for sure:  God allows U-turns, and today you may need to make a major turn in order to experience all that God has for you.”