May 12th, 2025
“They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."
We continue our conversation about guarding our thoughts. We ended our last devotion recognizing the importance of defending our hearts against the enemies of the believer that will attempt to move our thought life in a way that dishonours God. Now, we go on the offensive in this war against our minds, filling our hearts with the right things so, as Romans 12:2 states, we can be “transformed by the renewing of [our minds]”. But how does one fill their heart with the right things or even begin to renew the mind? The perfect way to answer this question is to establish what it means to have “renewed minds.”
When we speak of the “renewed mind” of the believer, we speak, first and foremost, of the transformation that happens in the mind of a Christian at salvation. Throughout Romans, we see Paul talk about the wickedness of the human mind before faith in Christ (Romans 1-3). However, now, because of Christ, our minds are transformed, given the capacity to think in the patterns of godly thinking that God initially intended us to have; the same pattern of thinking of Christ. As our minds are renewed, they become “sanctified”, meaning set apart for God. The renewed mind is a mind whose thoughts and decisions are devoted solely to honouring God and glorifying his name by thinking in the manner Christ does.
It’s important to note that although our minds are “renewed” and “sanctified”, they also require constant renewing and sanctification. In the same way that when a baby is born, they immediately experience life in a new environment outside the womb, yet still must grow to become an adult, learning what it means to be human and other realities; our salvation is our being born again (John 3:3), given new minds, yet we must grow, as a child grows into an adult, through sanctification, a constant and intentional setting apart of our minds and being formed into the likeness of Christ.
So, how is one sanctified, and how is one's mind renewed? Our devotion tells us how.
In one of Jesus' final prayers for his disciples, Jesus asks the Father to bring about holiness and sanctification in his followers, and he shares with us a key source for our sanctification.
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
While we were sinners, our minds were corrupted by lies. Now that we are saved, we come to a knowledge of the truth, and this truth, God’s word, is the thing that renews our mind to think the thoughts of Christ.
God has given us his word, the Bible, as a resource to help mould our lives, including our thought life, in a way that follows and honours God. The Bible describes God’s word as the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17), a weapon given to us to fight off the fiery darts of lies that Satan will throw at us, including in our minds. Through meditation and obedience to the word of God, our minds and thoughts can continually be renewed, aligning our minds to Christ. In 2025, there are multiple ways we can consume the truth of God’s word to sanctify us: The Bible, attending church on a Sunday, spending time with Christian friends, receiving Godly counsel, Christian podcasts, online sermons, and the list goes on.
If you want to honour God with your thoughts by having a renewed mind, you must sanctify your mind by the truth of God’s word. His word trains us into being the people he has called us to be, including teaching us how to think (2 Tim 3:16-17). Unfortunately, as simple as an instruction as meditating on God’s truth is, it's often neglected. This reality should not surprise us, as there is a real spiritual battle going on for our souls, and Satan knows that if he can keep us from God’s word, he disarms us of our weapon to strike his lies. But we can’t allow the enemy to get away with his schemes. Don’t enter the battlefield of your life without your weapon. Arm yourself with God’s word, learn his truth daily, and sanctify your mind to think God’s thoughts so you can strike them down with truth when the lies get loud.
Challenge For This Week
If you aren’t in the habit already, make it a habit to read the Bible every day. Even if it’s only for 15 minutes or a chapter a day, learn to make reading the Bible as essential as eating daily. Your spiritual life depends.