…be transformed by the renewing of your minds (Romans 12:2)
With the recent heated US Presidential elections, I was reminded of Abraham Lincoln, one of the great presidents America ever had. He was quoted as having said this “I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.”
He was once a poor young man living in a log cabin. What captured my attention was the fact that he encouraged his own self. He spoke a statement of hope loud enough to be heard by his own two ears. So, he motivated himself to keep learning and keep getting better. But you can only do that when you renew your mind.
True enough, he had his chance after several attempts and setbacks. He lost in several elections that if it was in the Philippines, he could have been called a “nuisance candidate”. But he did not allow his present condition to cloud his mind. Destiny was his for the taking and he willed his mind to achieve it. Eventually, he won.
Lincoln became a U.S. President during one of the most turbulent times of their nation. But history would prove that he was indeed prepared for the most important job he ever held – serving people. Because of this, he is considered one of the best presidents America ever had.
The mind can easily be filled with a lot of things caused by failure, disappointment, impatience and make you lose all the hope in this world. These things can pollute your mind and could potentially divert your thinking and affect your decision making. Its either we keep moving forward or give up and go have our pity parties. If we keep renewing our minds, it can make a great difference.
Renewing the mind is like preparing the ground for planting good seeds. A ground that is not ready for planting do not produce good results. Thus, cultivate your mind daily and let it be truly fertile. Re-invigorate it, refresh it.
“In order to succeed, you must know what you are doing,
like what you are doing and believe in what you are doing”.
Dr. Benjamin Carson became a leading neuro-surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in America. At one time, he also ran for the US presidency. When he was just a kid, he was always at the bottom of the class. It has always been that way and his classmates expected that of him. He himself thought he was dumb.
But his mother insisted, in fact, forced him to borrow books from the library and read them. She even required a book report for every book read by her son. The strategy worked and Benjamin jumped from the bottom to the top of the class. His mind was definitely renewed.
He wrote in his book, Think Big, that our minds can actually contain all information even from the time of Adam and Eve and still have available space left for new things. Amazing! Don’t ever underestimate the power inside your head. Just renew and upgrade it.
Renew your mind. Overhaul it. So it will run smoothly like a well-oiled car engine. If we take care of the engine, it will not malfunction. It may not make you a genius but good and right thinking yield the best ideas. It may give you the needed boost to start or continue going after your elusive dreams.
Here is an interesting fact. A survey was conducted in the United States about businessmen who became millionaires. Over fifty percent of them never finished college. Also, over fifty percent of CEO’s in Fortune 500 companies only have an average grade in college. This survey only means one thing. Lack of education or a low IQ is not a guarantee that we will fail in life. We only have to have a proper mindset by renewing our minds.
Negative and unnecessary information clutters the mind making it difficult to think clearly. This is the reason why the Apostle Paul encouraged us to think on good things, noble ideas and lovely thoughts (Philippians 4:8). If you do this, you will soon find out that your mind will be cleaner. Sharper.
Someone said, “Anyone who stops learning is old whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young”.
