Renewing our Mind-A Spiritual Healing (Based on Romans 12: 2)

Man is a tripartite being. He has body, soul and spirit (1Thessalonians 5: 23). “And your whole being – spirit, soul and body – remains blameless when our Lord Jesus appears.”  It is our desire that all these three parts of our being must remain blameless at the appearance of our Lord Jesus. 

Here, we mainly confer the spiritual – soul and spirit healing. How does our soul and Spirit be presented before God blameless?  In the first verse of Romans 12 speaks of our body and how it can be made perfect. It can be done only through offering our body as a living sacrifice, which is holy and pleasing to God. Our body can be compared with a ten stringed instrument. Those ten strings are referred below:-

Two ears - To hear the still small voice of our Lord

Two eyes - To see the glory of the Lord

A tongue - To praise God and witness Him

Two hands - To do the service of the Lord

Two legs - to walk in the paths of righteousness

A heart - to enthrone Jesus as the sovereign Lord of our life

Prophet Isaiah agrees to this view (33: l5). 

Legs - He that walks righteously 

Tongue - Speaks uprightly

Heart - hates the gain of oppressions

Hands - keeps his hands from holding bribes

Ears - stops ears from hearing of blood shed

Eyes - shuts his eyes from seeing evil

If we lead a life as per above, will be pleasing and acceptable to our Lord. It will be a living sacrifice, which pleases our Lord and Master.

How can we be healed spiritually?  “Do not be comforted to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is – what is proper, pleasing, and perfect. We need to have a complete detachment from the world, worldly affairs. The Greek word represent ‘conform’ has a vibrant meaning. It is linked with the changing of color. According to this milieu we should not change our color as a chameleon does. We should keep our identity where ever and whatever situation we have been assigned. We should not pursue the idiom “be a Roman while we are in Rome.”  The Biblical concept is entirely in opposition to it. We should not be conformed to this world. Everybody in the World has a peer pressure or a tendency to move and act according to the situation. We should consider that we are a chosen nation and a holy people. The Greek word for holy is ‘hagios’ which means separated from the ordinary for a special purpose. According to the Biblical concept, the antonym of holy is ordinary (Ezekiel). We are chosen from the ordinary to the extraordinary for a special purpose.

While I was studying in the Sunday school long ago, we had Sunday school anniversary held every year. The usual prizes awarded to students were drinking water glassess. We used those glassess to drink coffee, tea, water or juice.

One anniversary, some such glasses were bought to be distributed as prizes. our Pastor picked up two glasses out of the lot and set them apart to serve wine during the Lord's Table.  

He never used those glasses for any other purpose except for serving wine. The shape, color, and value of those glasses were the same as other glasses, but these two glasses were used only for the purpose, for which it was set apart. Similarly, the Lord has chosen us and separated us from the ordinary, although we have nothing special for a very special purpose for the Lord. Hence, we should not be conformed to worldly things, rather we should be transformed by renewing our mind.

Transform means a radical change in Life. Having a marked change in the form, nature and appearance is transformation. Most of our nature is not changed by transformation but we gain it by practice. A person can pray, preach, sing, testify by his earnest practice, but that is not transformation. Once, there was a hermit, who had a cat, which can hold a lamp. By the constant practice and effort, the hermit could teach the cat to hold a lamp, while he read his Holy Scripture. It was a surprise to everyone. They wanted to watch the performance of this special cat. Once, another hermit, the friend of this hermit wished to watch this performance. As usual the hermit brought his Holy Scripture and also lighted the lamp. He called the cat and as usual it began to hold the lamp. Everyone was astonished at this performance. The new hermit had brought a little mouse with him. While the cat was holding the lamp this man had taken out a mouse from his pocked and put forward before the cat. All of a sudden the cat threw off the lamp and went after the mouse. The cat had a lot of practice but had no transformation in the mind.

The Greek word for transform is ‘metamorphosis’, which is the life cycle of a butterfly. It has four stages of life. Egg, Larva, Pupa and adult are the four stages of Butterfly. Larva is a second birth from the egg. It feeds on garbage. But one day it will be confined inside a cocoon for a period. After a period, the little creature struggles to come out of it. After it comes out, it spreads it splendid wings and fly away in the air. After this, the butterfly never feeds upon garbage, but on nectar of flowers. Similarly we have physical birth and a second birth, which is from above. Though we have been born again, we are not transformed. But through many confined and difficult situations of cocoon experience, we are being transformed to the same image of Jesus Christ. The ultimate purpose of our life is that we have to be transformed to the very image of Christ.

By the renewal of our mind, we will be able to realize the perfect will of God. How will we renew our mind? Two American psychologists Joe and Harry first explained about the four areas of human life. These four areas are known as Joharri windows:- 

Public area - this is the part of our life that we know about ourselves and others know about us. The part we share with them: our name, the place where we live, our family, our personal appearances, our qualifications and our capabilities – these are open to others.

Hidden / secret area - this is the part of our life only we ourselves know about, but others do not know. We keep it hidden and do not tell others about it. This area contains, for example, our secret thoughts, feelings and hope, fears we overcome, the pride we hide, the thought and action we keep secret because we are ashamed of them.

The Blind area -  this is the part of our life, which others know but we ourselves do not know. This includes the things other people think about us, of which we are not aware - perhaps our boring talks, our bossy behavior and rude habits, the hurt we inflict, perhaps some of our good qualities, or the comfort and support we give to others without realizing it.

Unknown area - this is the part of our life that we do not know about, that others do not know this area in us. This contains our deepest feelings and prejudices, the total personality - perhaps our futures destiny, time of our death, and our place in God’s plan.

In each person’s life the window is different, according to how the person relates to others. If we are secretive, and find it difficult to share our lives and idea with others, our window will have  small public area and large secret area. If we are open to others, and ready to share our ideas and feelings with them, the hidden area will be reduced and the public area increased.

The purpose of the Joharri window is to help us to evaluate our lives and gain self-understanding, and improve our relationship with others by increasing the public area and decreasing the hidden and blind area in us. 

For a Christian there is another way of opening the window and gaining better understanding of the unknown area: that is by seeking to understand how God evaluates our life. When we open our hidden areas to the Lord and ask forgiveness of our sins, then the Lord may open the unknown areas to us – the future plans regarding our life.

Our ultimate good is to achieve the perfect will of God in our Life. That is our success in Life. Thus, we will have a perfectly healed soul and spirit.