- (AMP) but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude],
- (GNB) but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.
- (ISV) but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds
- (NLT) but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
- (JB Phillips) but let God re-mould your minds from within,
Let’s note a few things about this part of the verse from the translations I laid out for you.
It is a transformation from within. “inwardly” / “from within”It is God who does it – [“Let God” – give Him permission and step back and let Him do it.] It is a continual process. “continually be transformed” – the change takes place in your mind, at the macro level, the world view level. “A complete change of your mind”. It is also dramatic, just like the difference between the caterpillar and the butterfly. “A new person”
Remember the word is Transform – μεταμορφόω [metamorphoō] to transform (literally or figuratively “metamorphose”): – change, transfigure, transform. Yes you read it right – metamorphose yourself. It is the dramatic change wrought on the butterfly. Nothing the caterpillar or the butterfly can do in and of themselves. It is done to or for them. So too with us but we start the process by giving the Lord permission and focusing our thoughts on higher things. Muse on Philippians 4:8 and let it sink into you. Read the quote by Vince Havner below, let it sink into you. Are you a citizen of heaven or a citizen of this world? In this case you can’t have dual citizenship. Which is it? Some disparage the notion of setting our thoughts on the things above saying “he’s too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use”. But that is not true. If indeed we are heavenly minded, if our thoughts are set on things above, if our citizenship is in heaven, we know it makes a significant difference. To stay with our theme of metamorphosis and to quote from the great Muhammad Ali, we will ‘float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”.
We will undergo a metamorphosis whereby the new self is radically different from the former self. You have become a new creation and God has done it. This all comes through the renewing of your mind. Begin today, begin now. You can’t begin yesterday, it’s gone.
We are significant, not because of what we do, but because of whose we are.
Max Lucado
Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world.
Vince Havner
Refuse to live trapped in fear or the small dimensions of a self-centred world! Get a cause greater than yourself.
Bob Gass
You can’t control what goes on around you, but Jesus said you can control what goes on inside you. How? By doing two things: 1) Filling your mind with God’s Word. 2) Praying about the situation, then leaving it confidently in God’s hands.
Bob Gass