How to Find a Transformed Faith

It begins with your mind…

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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 (NIV)

How do we grow deeper in our faith? What does it look like to know God closely? Where do we go to draw closer to Jesus? Why does any of this matter?

Over the past decade, I have striven to draw closer to God, have a relationship with Jesus, and experience the Holy Spirit. And in the last few years, I have started to see my faith grow rapidly as I have continued to venture into deeper waters of my faith.

And most of it started with Romans 12 and understanding what it means to renew my mind.

Renewal of Our Minds

While our spirits are connected to the Spirit of God, our souls help us grow closer to God. However, our souls are complex. There are three major parts to who we are in our souls: Mind, Emotions, and Will.

When we health at a soul level, our mind leads our emotions and directs our wills. When we are unhealthy, we are lead by our emotions, neglect our mind, and our actions are completely dictated by our emotions.

We begin to live differently when we renew our minds on the truth and power of God’s Kingdom. This informs all of our decisions and keeps our emotions in check.

This is why we are called to renew our minds. And we do this through prayer, Christian community, and reading our Bibles.

Prayer

“Devotion to prayer and intimacy with God is the only setting in which we can completely step into the fullness of God’s purposes.” — Bill Johnson

Prayer is our direct connection to God. It is in this connection that we can bring our spirit in line with the spirit of God. When we pray, our full being is connected to God.

When our full being; spirit, soul, and body are connected to God, we can begin to experience his Kingdom, power, and will.

Christian Community

“Churches rightly draw a higher proportion of needy people. They also have a great number of people whose lives have been completely turned around and filled by the joy of Christ.” — Tim Keller

While there is no ‘perfect’ church, the point of the church is to bring God’s people together. This helps us all grow.

Because we are at different levels in our faith, we all can find someone to learn from. And find someone to we can help grow closer to God. This is the beauty of the church.

Reading the Bible

“This is the heartbeat of our Bible reading — to know and enjoy “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8), before whom even our greatest loves are considered nothing. This is the highest task of Bible reading, not to internalize a dry list of dos and donts, nor to find instruction or wisdom for living, but to know and enjoy more of God.” — John Piper

Ultimately, the renewing of our mind is easiest for us to understand by reading the Bible. As we fill our minds with the truth of God and his presence through his words we begin the process of renewal.

The word of God draws us closer to him, his truth, and his Kingdom.

The Beginning of a Transformed Faith

A transformed faith is complicated. And yet, it is not hard to discover and experience. In fact, we must desire a transformed faith to find it. And we must be willing to make it happen in order to experience it.

But it starts here.

As read the word of God and these words grow within us with the water prayer and light of community, we truly become renewed. And we begin to experience a Transformed Faith.

How do you experience your faith in a new way? Share in the responses below.

You can learn more about Transformed Faith here.