Twenty years

This September I will have been a Christian for twenty years. I remember raising my hand. I remember my mom was there. I remember where my youth pastor was sitting and where I was sitting and that I really wanted to do it and that no one made me. I remember not really having any idea what I was getting into but felt…compelled.

As I was preparing for our Bible study this week I kind of got stuck on a popular verse that got me remembering that when I turn 32 this year, shortly thereafter it will have marked twenty years with the Lord. For the past few years I have been convicted about the popular verses. I don’t gravitate to them often. Only because of pride. Oh, I already know those. Or, everybody has read that a thousand times. That’s nothing new to anyone so I’ll look for something else. Even more prideful, I’d like a new revelation about this. Gross. I’m thankful the Holy Spirit exposed that to me, starting with the famous John 3:16. There’s a reason popular verses are popular. They are amazing!

Without further ado…the popular verse…with much valid, worthy, and admirable reason to be popular…Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

This is our instruction from now until the door of eternity. Not just a nice Bible verse from my quiet time today. This sentence is my bread, defining what in the world sanctification means. Renew your mind. Renewing our mind, with our hearts surrendered to Christ, means that we will be able to be different. But it starts with the mind. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that “we have the mind of Christ”. That is a gift He gives. We are able to discern, now, spiritual things and to begin to think the way that God does about life, people, our spouses, our kids, non-believers, other Christians, trials, crisis, loss, blessing, and all else.

So sitting there, dwelling on my popular :) verse I didn’t want to move on because I felt compelled to sit there and examine what had been renewed about me these past t-w-e-n-t-y years with the Lord. (That’s a reaaaally long time. Wow. I feel like I should start thinking about throwing a party. I definitely should.)

So, how did I think about things before? How do I now? I made a list.

Lists are kind of fun. When I was younger, I would make “happy lists” (shout out to Laurel) and “why I am looking forward to summer” lists. Lists of how I wanted to sign my name with my new married name. And later baby names lists and prayer lists and meal plan lists and now I have this little writing book that is essentially a cute way of making a list of ideas and what people say that’s interesting and topics and all kinds of things. So, I like lists. And this list felt important when I was gathering my thoughts for our study. Not as much for the other women at all, but I was interested to do it between me and the Lord. A list of how my mind has been renewed on very specific topics. If I knew you at age 18 and haven’t seen you since, meet me – the today version – this list will help :).

One word to keep in mind: GRACE. I felt a lot of God’s grace as I was making this list. Thinking about how I saw things before and how I see things now isn’t a guilty or embarrassing or shocking thing. God is ever graceful and patient with us, revealing our sin in His timing, and refining our views of others and refining our words and refining our thought lives. There has been a lot of grace for me as slowly over time the Lord has gently addressed lots of messed up areas of thinking and living in my heart. He is soooo gracious to me and you. And I look at what I wrote, not with sadness or embarrassment, but I feel willing to expose it to myself and others because it’s a testament, a story, about a God who is about redemption. He is changing me. He has declared me a new creation. 2 Co 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” And for twenty years I have been His workmanship, changing me to look more and more like who He has declared me to be.

Since this is such a long blog…I will post my “list” tomorrow. I’ve got to have cliff hangers every once in a while, people!