Day 21

Goodness

Finding Goodness

Try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:10

If goodness is anything that is pleasing to God, how do you make his pleasure the focus of your life? There are so many things that demand your time, so many things to think about and do—how do you find the energy or the strength to make goodness the goal of your life? The answer to that lies in your mind. Not that you already know it, but your mind is the answer, or, rather, your renewed mind is the answer. In Romans 12:2 Paul writes, “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” (emphasis added). It is through this renewal of your mind that you can know the goodness of God and his will. But how does this happen? How is your mind renewed?

Well, first of all, renewing your mind means getting rid of the old one. You do that by breaking your old way of thinking. It’s been your pattern for a long time, so it’s not going to be natural to change it, but the old way of thinking is grounded in the flesh. It started when you were born. As a baby you responded to the flesh. When it was hungry you cried, when it was happy you laughed, when it was tired you slept. Nothing drove your choices but your flesh. But as you grew and became aware of morals, you began to have a choice—a choice between self and others, a choice between good and bad, all of it based on pleasing your parents or the adults around you and how that affected your flesh. As you later became aware of God’s Holy Spirit and your unlimited access to him, you began to hear not only your own thoughts but his as well. So your mind, being set on the things of the flesh since birth, had to be renewed, or changed, to adapt to the life of the Spirit. The things that are natural to your flesh, like looking out for yourself, pleasing yourself, judging others, gossiping, complaining, fearing, worrying—all of these old patterns of thought and emotion began to contradict the life of the Spirit in you. So this renewal began with your identification with Christ and your desire to be more like him.

As you begin to see who Christ is, you begin to see his character, and as you see that and read about it in his Word, you are seeing the new pattern that your mind is meant to take. At first this new pattern of thought and emotion might seem strange. As you read what pleases him and what doesn’t, you start rejecting the things your flesh has come to expect, and this change in pattern pulls and tugs at you, making it difficult to adapt to. But over time, as you listen to the Holy Spirit on a daily basis and give your thoughts and life over to him, the change in pattern starts to become second nature. The more you read God’s thoughts and see his pleasure, the more you want it, and the more your old mind gets renewed. Then those things that used to be so natural to your flesh change, but soon you see other things that were buried so deep that you never saw them. Those need renewal as well. In turning your life over to the Holy Spirit to search and to expose the areas of sin in your life, you unearth all kinds of stuff that is part of the old you, and you give it up. As you do this, your mind is renewed and the old way of living becomes less and less natural and the fruit of the Spirit more and more natural.

If you want more goodness in your life, then you must begin by renewing your mind. Find out what pleases God and what pleases you, see how those differ, and then choose his way, because in his pleasure is all of your goodness and joy.

• Renew It

What are three areas in your life that need to be renewed? Do you struggle with fear, worry, bitterness, hate, or anger? Think about those areas in your life where you are living with an old mind, one set on the things of the flesh.

The renewed mind looks at the things that used to plague the old mind differently. What are some ways that you might look at those things differently? If you don’t know, then pray and ask God. Spend time in the Bible looking up what he has to say about these particular things.

When your mind is renewed, your mouth is too. Do you speak with goodness? Think about the words you use, including the kinds of words and the amount of words. In what ways might that change when you have a renewed mind?

Matthew 12:35 says, “The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.” Write down all of the things you treasure in your life.

Now, are those things you treasure good in God’s eyes? Consider each one and how what you treasure may or may not distract you or pull you away from God. How might you change what you treasure? By giving up those treasures that war against your devotion to God. Pray today to give up those bad treasures to God and to replace them with his Holy Spirit as your treasure.

• Pray It

Dear God, I want to live with a renewed mind. I don’t want to think the way I used to think. I don’t want to respond to my flesh but to your Spirit. Please teach me to love what you love and to want what you want so that my flesh is rejected. Amen.