What if God …? A Study of Romans

Mind, Attitude, Motivation Romans 12 - 13 Mind, Attitude, Motivation

Conformity to God’s Will The “perfect” will of God is about how we can pursue a path in life that enables us to worship God and to serve others.

Do Not Be Conformed Conformity with the ‘present age’ (world), is disconformity with the will of God. We cannot discern the will of God by using the principles of the “present age.”

Be Transformed Transformation suggests a change of form rather than a change of substance. God desires to take who we are and reshape us so that we display a different form that is in keeping with the inner reality of ‘Christ in us.’

Romans 12 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c]but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Nothing is really different until you think differently. Renewing the Mind Nothing is really different until you think differently. James McDonald

Renewing the Mind One reason we do not experience substantive and lasting change, is that we typically begin with our behavior. The place we should start, if we want transformation, is with the mind. Typically, behavior follows decision.

Renewing The Mind Four regions where our mind must change: We must change our thinking about God We must change our thinking about others We must change our thinking about ourselves We must change our thinking about “environment”

Renewing the Mind Understand that all thoughts are not equal. Identify futile thinking. Break emotional bonds with bad thinking. Evaluate how you think rather than how you behave.

Renewing the Mind Changed (renewed) thinking is a continual process. Replace bad thinking with good thinking. Start doing it – train the mind!

Renewing The Attitude Attitude Determines Altitude!

Romans 12 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,[e] and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,[f] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Renewing the Attitude Attitude is an admixture of both our thoughts and our feelings with the added element of evaluation or conclusion. The evaluative part of attitude leads us to draw a conclusion which is typically one of three things: neutral (apathy), negative (bad attitude) or positive (good attitude).

Renewing the Attitude It is the advance man of our true selves. John Maxwell asks the question, “What is attitude?” It is the advance man of our true selves. Its roots are inward but its fruit is outward. It is our best friend or our worst enemy. It is more honest and more consistent that our words. It is an outward look based on past experiences. From The Winning Attitude, John Maxwell

Renewing the Attitude It is a thing which draws people to us or repels them. It is never content until it is expressed. It is the librarian of our past. It is the speaker of our present. It is the prophet of our future.    From The Winning Attitude, John Maxwell

Maxwell’s Attitude Axioms Our attitude determines our approach to life. Our attitude determines our relationships with other people. Often our attitude is the only difference between success and failure. From The Winning Attitude, John Maxwell

Maxwell’s Attitude Axioms Our attitude at the beginning of a task will affect its outcome more than anything else. Our attitude can turn our problems into blessings. Our attitude can give us an uncommonly positive perspective. Our attitude is not automatically good because we are Christians. From The Winning Attitude, John Maxwell

Why Attitude Is More Important Than IQ -- Travis Bradberry (Forbes, Jan. 2016)

Jonah – Study In Attitude

Jonah – Study In Attitude Jonah’s feeling toward Nineveh is that it’s people are unworthy of God’s grace. Jonah's thought toward God is that he is making a mistake sending a prophet to the gentiles. Jonah gets the job done, but completely misses the excitement, joy and fulfillment as well as the blessing of his service because the attitude is messed up.