The Renewing Of Your Mind (Romans 12:1-2)

A Message From Our President Jeff Christianson

Like you, and the rest of humanity, I learned how to rely upon my own sufficiency through my earliest experiences in life. It was natural. The humanistic worldview teaches that for humankind to make a way for himself in the world he is called to do what he can do and be what he can be. He is the captain of his own destiny and what he makes of himself will be his lot in life. We are all familiar with the kingdom of man.

The kingdom of heaven resembles very little of the kingdom of men. It’s an entirely different worldview. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).We are reminded that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts; they are higher than the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:8). In God’s kingdom, we are called upon to learn to live by the sufficiency of God rather than the sufficiency of man.

I love what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:12, “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.”

The apostle Paul conducted himself in godly sincerity; a sincerity that did not come out of fleshly wisdom. Think of his ministry. He ministered throughout the world, traveling and sharing the word of God. The wisdom of man would be insufficient for such a mighty work. According to 2 Corinthians, the whole of Paul’s ministry occurred by the grace of God. Godly living comes only by the grace of God and we who believe are called to live godly lives.

It is my prayer that God would affect our hearts and lives as we explore Counseling Life’s Most Difficult Issues, and that you will discover Christ’s sufficiency for godly living.