Reset—Not Conformed, But Transformed - Grant Partrick

I'm grateful to be together today, to link up, to dig into God's word. If we haven't met, my name's Grant. Have the privilege of being one of the pastors here. And I'm so excited about this word today, about opening God's word together. We're gonna be in Romans chapter 12 as we continue in this collection reset. If you've missed any of the talks so far in this collection reset, I wanna encourage you to go back and to watch them. And it's been so powerful even, you know, Pastor Louie's been in the first week was talking about his phone. And, you know, you gotta reset to your factory settings. And I haven't had to reset my phone, you know, knock on wood, but in December, no problems with my phone, lots of problems with my home Wi-Fi. Don't know if you have had that before. It's incredibly frustrating because it's like, if you're, it's like one of those things where, you know, if your car is making a weird noise and then you finally get an appointment and you take it to a mechanic, but on the day that you go there, it doesn't make the noise. And you're like, I just brought it all the way here. I promise it's like, there's a problem with it. Well, that's how it was with my Wi-Fi. It just would stop working all throughout the day.

I had to go over there. And the only thing I know how to do, because, you know, I'm not smart when it comes to technology, just unplug it and plug it back in. I'm like, surely this is gonna fix it one of these times, you know? And I didn't know what to do, but it'd just go out throughout the day. And so then I did what anybody would do living in our current day is, I was convinced you can fix anything with ChatGPT's help. So I'm on ChatGPT, I'm like explaining it. I'm one of those guys, like I haven't used ChatGPT a lot. I'm probably more kind to ChatGPT than most people are. You know, I'm like, hi, ChatGPT, how are you today? I'm having a problem with my home Wi-Fi and I'm giving them this whole thing. And he's like, you should try this. And then you should try this. And so I'm doing all these things. I'm logging into my modem, which I didn't even know that was a thing. And I'm changing settings and, you know, it would work for a minute and then it would go out for a minute. And then finally I give up and I call Xfinity and I'm like, y'all gotta come help me. And the dude finally gets out and, you know, he's kind of got his little thing

and he's in, you know, my office at home, kind of like checking the Wi-Fi back there. Then he's up in the other room where the little modem and the router is and he's checking stuff in there. And then I just am proud of myself at all the steps I have taken via ChatGPT's help. So I'm telling them, well, I did this and then there's something called a bridge. I don't know what the bridge is, but I'm like, I deactivated the bridge and then I reactivated the bridge and I'm just telling him all this stuff and he's trying to hold a straight face. And at some point he looks at me and he says, I think that all of your attempts to make it better have actually made it worse. And we're going to have to reset the whole thing back to its factory settings. And I thought, man, how much like life is that? That all of our striving, this was the message last week, all of our striving, all of our working to try to fix our lives somehow doesn't seem to actually give us the peace that we're looking for. And this collection has been so powerful as we kind of calibrate and tune our heart back to the things that we were made for, the things we were created for.

And today we're going to be looking at one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture, Romans chapter 12. The key verse is going to be Romans chapter 12, verse two. And this is what it says. It says, do not, Paul speaking, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will. Father, thank you for the opportunity to gather around your word together today. Nobody needs to hear any of my opinions today, but we all desperately need to hear from you today. My heart's heavy for the person today that's tried a million formulas, but somehow their heart is more restless than ever. For those who feel like they've strived and tried to do more and do more and try harder, and yet the void seems to be getting wider and wider. And I pray that by your grace, we are living in a world that has a gravitational pull. There is a current that is pushing us away from the things that matter most. And I pray that you'll help us today, drowned out the distraction so that we can hear from you. Give us the faith today, God, and empower us. Holy Spirit, would you come and empower us to live a life that is pleasing to you?

Jesus, we love you. We pray all this in your name. And everybody said, amen. Well, in essence, what Paul is saying in Romans chapter 12, verse two is this. In order to reset our lives. we must renew our minds. In order to reset our lives, we must first renew our minds. Now, the book of Romans is amazing. You can read the whole thing through in a matter of a couple of days. I would encourage you to do that. It's a theological masterpiece. Paul really from the beginning is explaining the gospel and then in chapter 11, at the end of chapter 11, he just breaks out into song. It's called a doxology and this is what he says. He says, I'll read it, not sing it for everybody's sake today, okay? He says, oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay them for from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. You know you're singing good when you amen yourself, right?

And then verse chapter 12 begins and says, therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform, here's our verse for the day, so you can now see it in its context. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. Most people stop there, but verse three is important. He says, for by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in according with the faith God has distributed to each of you. So it's amazing that the beginning of this collection we talked about, Louie talked about, we're created by God and we're created for God. And he was quoting Paul in the book of Colossians there, but here's Paul in the book of Romans saying the same thing at the end of this great song, at the end of this amazing theological work, he breaks out into song and in the closing verse of the song is for from him and through him and for him are all things, meaning the grid, the anchor, the foundation for life was I was created by God and I was created for God. And many people in our world today,

they're not living by that grid, they're more living by a grid that would suggest I was created by chance and I was created for comfort. And our lives and our souls and our hearts are restless and they will continue to be so until you understand that what we talked about in week one is true. You were made, every single one of you listening to me today, you were made, you were thought up, you were knit together by almighty God. Your life has intrinsic value because you were created in God's image and your life has kingdom purpose. He created you with gifts and abilities and talents so that you could contribute to his mission on planet earth. And then chapter 12 begins and it begins with this word, therefore, now all good Bible students have been taught that when you see the word, therefore, you gotta pay attention, you gotta ask yourself the question what's the therefore, therefore, the therefore is like leading you to a conclusion because of everything I said previously, now here's something really important and that's what we have in these verses when Paul says, therefore. So what is the therefore referencing? Well, scholars and theologians are kind of split on this. Some of them take a narrow view, which means that they think Paul is really just referencing to the doxology at the end of Romans chapter 11. And I would say, I agree with that.

I think he does have that in view and most scholars would say that they would take a broader view in meaning that Paul has all of the theology that he's now laid out from chapters one of Romans through chapter 11 of Romans, he has that in mind and I would say, I agree with that. I think he has all of it in mind. And what Paul's doing in the book of Romans is he is carefully and masterfully laying out the gospel. We don't have time to go through the whole book but maybe I'll just give you a summary statement of each chapter so far. In chapter one, we see the rebellion of humanity and the wrath of God towards sin. In chapter two, we see the righteous judgment of God. In chapter three, we see a sacrifice of atonement. In chapter four, we are judged. justified by faith. In chapter five, this is mind blowing. We now have peace with God. In chapter six, we're now dead to sin and we're alive to Christ. In chapter seven, we're released from the law and we're now bound to Christ. In chapter eight, we have life through the spirit. We are more than conquerors in Christ. In chapters nine through 11, you see God's patience and mercy on display despite Israel's rebellion.

And so when you come through that grid, you understand why all of this theology ends up in doxology, that as Paul has thought deeply about the work of Christ, he's led to now singing this song about how good and glorious God is. And so when you grab all of that together and you enter into chapter 12, Paul's pastoral heart is on full display. He kind of shifts from Paul the theologian to Paul the pastor. He shifts from teaching to, now you see it in the text, he's urging the people from doctrine to application, from head to heart. Because what we know must change how we live. And look what he says. He says, therefore, now you got all that in mind, right? Therefore, all that in the background now, I'm urging you, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is such an interesting phrase. He's telling them, the believers in Rome, I'm urging you, I'm pleading with you to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice or present, maybe your translation says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Why does he use the word body here? Well, the idea he has in mind is that this is the entire person, your body,

all of who you are, not just partial, don't just offer him your head, but offer him your heart and offer him your hands. Yes, offer him your marriage and offer him your children and offer him your career and offer him your dreams and offer him your past and offer him your future, offer him the entirety of who you are. Our response to the mercy of God must not be partial, but total. That's what Paul's saying. And so he says, therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy, this is imperative, before he ever tells them to offer their bodies, he says, remember the gospel, get the gospel in view, any spiritual activity that stems from soil other than the gospel will always lead to self-righteousness. And so Paul says, yeah, I am gonna call you to offer your body, to offer everything you are, but before you do that, I want you to make sure you enter through the doorway of gospel gratitude, get the mercy of God in view. And what he's saying here is our whole self for our whole life. That's what we're called to. That's what Paul is urging them to. And today I think God is graciously giving us an opportunity to take inventory of our souls. What are you withholding from him today? What negotiations remain alive today between you and God? What have you tucked away in the dark corner

and thought, well, I'm in church, I know the songs, I'm doing the things, I'm giving, I'm here, I'm there, I've got all these things that I'm doing for God, but I got these few little areas tucked away in the dark chambers of my heart. What are those things for you? And God is inviting you and Paul is pleading with you, bring them and lay them on the altar as a living sacrifice to God. Why? Because that's what he deserves. And if we can be real honest, because every human being I think wrestles with this, I wrestle with this, I'm just like you. There are things in my life that I am tempted to believe are better in my hands than God's hands. But here's the reality, here's the hard question I want you to ask yourself. Have any of the things that you've kept in your own grip led you to having more peace in your life? No. No, they haven't, they haven't for me and I'm assuming the answer is no for you. And God in his kindness today through the power of his word is saying, come on, come hand it to me, come reset, no more negotiations to be had, just open hands and open hearts, our whole self for our whole life. Where are you believing the lie today

that you know better than God? What have you refused to trust him with? And by his grace today, he's offering a great exchange. A reset, something heavy for something light, something burdensome for something glorious. What an opportunity. The writer of Hebrews reminds us, he says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, every weight that hinders, and every sin that so easily entangles us. So what's the message there? It's not just get rid of all the things that are sins in your life, it's get rid of all of the lesser things that you're tempted to worship. Get rid of anything that's slowing you down in your pursuit of Jesus Christ. That's a reset that we need today. Get rid of anything in your life today that is causing you to run with a limp after the things of God. If it's causing you to slow down, get rid of it so that you can run full speed towards the plans and purposes of God for your life. Paul is saying in Romans chapter 12, our response to the mercy of God should be total surrender to God. He says our sacrifice should be three things.

It should be living, it should be holy or pure, and it should be pleasing or acceptable to God. Just a reminder, not all worship is pleasing or acceptable to God. That our heads and our hearts have to come in alignment with the will of God. That we can't give surface level worship and think that's pleasing to God. He's looking at our hearts today. He doesn't just want your hands up if your hearts are far, he wants you, he wants a relationship with you. And so Paul is saying our sacrifice has to be three things. It's gotta be living, it's gotta be holy, and it's gotta be pleasing, acceptable to God. Now, when the early Roman Christians heard the word sacrifice, they immediately thought about the old sacrificial system of worship that we read about in the Old Testament. A sacrifice was always synonymous with worship in the Old Testament. Bulls and goats and lambs, and this idea of a living sacrifice must have been like an oxymoron to them. Why? Because, listen to this, every other sacrifice in the Bible required death. The goat had to be slain, the bull had to be slain. Every other sacrifice in the Bible, including the sacrifice of the Son of God

for the sins of the world, demanded deaths. But not so for us. We're called, the people of God, who've been filled with the Spirit of God, to be a living sacrifice. Don't take that for granted, that God, in His grace and in His mercy, has brought us to life and let us live for Him. What a powerful reality today. Don't miss that. In the Old Testament, the people of God brought a slain sacrifice and laid it on the altar. That was their worship. But for us, for you and for me today, we don't bring the sacrifice, we are the sacrifice. Not slain, but yes, surrendered, and we express our worship by living for Him, our whole self, for our whole life. This is your true and proper worship. This, maybe your translation says, this is your reasonable service, or this is your spiritual worship. The word there in the Greek is the word logikēnē. It's where we get our word logical from. So a good translation would be, this is your logical worship. Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view, I urge you, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies, offer all of who you are in response to God, living, holy,

pleasing sacrifice to God. And then it says, this is the only logical response. I mean, how could you do anything other than that? How could you have God's mercy in view and try to withhold from Him? The only thing possible is to offer all we have in response to Him. So if Grant's translation of this verse, Paul's saying, so then, with the cross in view and with mercy in mind, give your whole self for your whole life as a holy, living, and pleasing sacrifice to God. It's the only logical response. You see this idea in verse one of dedication. And then as we go to our main verse of verse two, you see the idea of separation. And now Paul says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect. So there are two commands here that are important. One is positive and one is negative. The first one he says, do not conform to the patterns of this world. That's a negative command. This word means to form or to model after or to be guided by. He's saying, don't be guided by the patterns of this world. Paul is urging us as Christians to be non-conformists.

He's going, don't fit the mold, don't blend in, don't be guided by the patterns of this world. J.B. Phillips' translation says, don't let the world squeeze you into its mold. But man, it is so easy to do that, isn't it? It is so easy to convince yourself, you know, I'm just trying to, I'm just trying to love my neighbor. I'm just trying to do all these things. When at the end of the day, if we actually took inventory of our souls, it is so easy for our desire for approval to cause us to conform to the patterns of this world. And Paul's saying, don't do that. Don't blend in. Don't be guided by the patterns of this world. What is the pattern of this world? Well, there is a gravitational pull, you know that. It's why Paul says in another place in Romans, I'm always doing this stuff I don't want to do and the stuff I do want to do, I never do it. Why? Because there's a gravitational pull of a broken world and it does not promote godliness. That if you do nothing, you will not be closer to God, you will drift further from God. And so Paul is saying, he's urging, we got to think about these things, be aware of these things, be sober minded in these things. The world is not guided by the truth of God.

They are guided by their own desires, right? They are tempted to worship all throughout the scripture, the people of God have been tempted to worship worthless things. That's the pattern of the world, to make something that isn't ultimate, ultimate, namely ourselves. That's the pattern of the world. The pattern of the world is not to offer your whole life to God. The pattern of the world is to figure out how much can I keep for myself? How much comfort can I get? How much of my pleasure can I achieve on planet earth? That's the pattern of this world. And Paul's going, don't conform to that. Don't let that mold press down on you. You got to have a reset. You got to remember that there's a greater story that you were created by God and you were created for God. You weren't made for this world. You got to remember that today. It's so easy to forget that. And here in essence, I think is kind of what Paul is saying, to withhold worship is to conform to the pattern of this world. When you hold back, when you negotiate with God, that started in the garden and it still exists today. The root of sin is pride. The root of sin is desiring something else more than God,

of thinking I know better than he knows. So yeah, I'll deal with you over here, but I got all this over here on my own. And many of us are in that place today. And by God's grace, I think he's bringing you today under the power of his word to go, there's a reset possible for you today. And on the other side of it, there is peace. And that's what we're all looking for. There is joy. And that's what we're all looking for. To withhold worship is to conform to the patterns of this world, right? Now, let me be clear. This isn't a call to kind of circle up in our little holy huddles. Let's get our five friends, sing all our worship songs and turn our back to a broken dying world. That is not what Paul is saying here. That's not what the mission of God on planet earth is. We are called to be salt and to be light, to move into the dark world with the hope of the gospel in our mouths. That's what we're called to do. So this isn't a, ah, let, let, let. Don't conform doesn't mean escape from the world. It means be guided by the word of God as you enter into the mission on planet earth, not settle for being guided by the patterns of the world. Two very different things.

That's what Paul is encouraging us to do today. I was reading an article by Kerry Newhoff who released this very helpful article on some trends in the church. And he was talking about this reality that for many people today, most of the people in our churches today, he said, they're being formed 49 plus hours a week on their devices. algorithms and other kinds of things by influencers and Netflix and chat GPT and by the new, whatever's on the other side of your screen. And so he said, it's not a realistic thing to think that one and a half hours on a Sunday and let's say you're really going all in and you got another hour and a half of a connect group later in the week. Like the numbers just don't line up. 49 hours of being formed by the world and let's call it three of being formed by the church. And I think what God is inviting us to do is have a reset to go, man, I need to be planted in this word every day, not just on Sunday. It's not my pastor's responsibility to teach me the word of God. I can go straight to the source myself. Every single morning I can consume and I can have the renewing of my mind transform me into who God wants me to be.

Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. If you do nothing, that will happen to you. And Paul is pleading with us today. God has a better plan for your life. So there's not just the negative, nonconformity isn't the goal. Transformation is the goal. Look what he says. He says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This is a positive command. This word means to have a change in form of appearance of being changed, of changing inwardly, okay? The goal isn't just somehow that we would look slightly different and be morally better than the rest of the world. The goal is that we would look like Jesus. That's the goal. That's the plan. That's what we're hoping for. And so maybe you're like, great, awesome. I've heard a lot of preachers say that before. How do I do that? How do I resist the mold of the pattern of this world? And here's the reality. I don't know if this is encouraging or discouraging to you today. You can't do that. You can't. On your own and in your own strength, you can't do. It was Jesus who said, apart from me, you can do nothing.

But this is where Philippians 2 is massively helpful and beautiful. Philippians 2, verse 13 says, for it is God who works in you to will, to cause you to desire the things of God. And then he says, and it is God who acts in order to fulfill his good purpose. So how do you do it? You don't do it by striving for it. You do it by surrendering to the work of God in your life, by surrendering to the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life. God gives you the will and God does the work. How could it be this good? This is the good news of the gospel that your future doesn't hinge on your ability to perform. Your future can rest in the hands of a sovereign God who does not make mistakes and does not grow weary or tired. So our aim is to surrender to the work of the Spirit who is chiseling us into the image of the Son. I've said this here before, one of my favorite preachers says this often when he prays, and I love it. He said, it's the will of God to have the Spirit of God, use the Word of God to make the children of God look like the Son of God. Amen to that. So how are we transformed? Well, the scripture tells us. It says you're transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Your mind is a powerful thing. Our lives are shaped by our thoughts. I remember hearing Ben Stewart say this one time, what you think about will be what you care about and what you care about you will chase. So can I ask you this? What thoughts are you entertaining? You're not responsible for every thought that pops into your head, but you do have another option other than to entertain them. The scripture says that you and I have the ability to take every thought and make it captive and take it captive and make it obedient to Christ. So when a thought comes in that is according to the pattern of this world, you have to have a filter. You gotta have a reset that goes, no, I'm not gonna be guided by that. I'm gonna take that and chain it and take it captive and make it obedient to the Word of Christ in my life. You have that power. By the Holy Spirit working in you, you have that power. Amen to that. So we have to guard our hearts, right? The scripture says guard your heart for it's the wellspring of life. Everything you do flows from what you allow into your heart. And what comes into our minds eventually makes its way into our hearts. And what's in our hearts

eventually will come out in our lives. So we guard our hearts by renewing our minds, by calibrating our lives to the truth of God's Word. It's such a powerful picture. The word here in Greek, when Paul says, he says, don't be conformed, but be transformed. That word, transform, be transformed, it's the word metamorpho. It's where we get our English word metamorphosis from. And I don't know what comes into your mind when you think about the word metamorphosis. I can't help but thinking of the caterpillar beautifully turning into a butterfly, a change in form. So in some ways, the picture that Paul's giving here is less be a chameleon and fit into the culture, right? Chameleon has the ability to kind of blend into its surrounding. That's not the goal, that would be conforming to the pattern of the world. No, no, no, less chameleon, more caterpillar. That's what Paul's encouraging us to do. A caterpillar has a change in form. A metamorphosis is what it's called. And then it has a beautiful new expression. And that's the opportunity for you and me today to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. So if you say, okay, great, this is awesome. What's the takeaway today? Like, what do I do? Get more knowledge, read another book,

think more about God. How do I do this, man? And I would say, those would be great steps. You should do all those things. But more knowledge isn't necessarily the goal. You see, knowledge can be a tricky thing. There are plenty of people, and you know many of them who have big heads and cold hearts. Knowledge alone is not the goal. There are plenty of people who have lots of education, but their education never leads to exaltation. And we have to let what comes into our minds digest into our hearts, and then it will come out of our lives. This is the goal. The goal is that we would live our lives from this grid of being created by God for God, that we would offer our whole self for our whole life, that this sacrifice would be holy and pleasing to God. And I think Peter helps us here. Peter actually tells us, this is pretty alarming. Peter actually tells us that it's possible to be ineffective and unfruitful in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let me read you the verses. 2 Peter 1, we'll read verses three through nine. It says, his divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life. Somebody today, I don't know where you are, you just need to hear that today.

I don't know what assignment is scaring you today, thinking about a new parent, you haven't slept in who knows how long, and you're just trying to figure out, do I have what it takes to do this? Can I just remind you from the truth of God's word today? His divine power has given you everything you need to live a godly life. You have everything that you need in the person of Jesus Christ. Don't be tempted to believe the lie of the enemy today, that you need something someone else has to be able to do what God's called you to do. What God's called you to do, he will give you the power to be able to walk that out. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life, through our knowledge of him, who's called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them, this is crazy, you may participate in the divine nature. Does he do the work? Yes. Does he give you the desire? Yes. Is it all him? Yes. But we get to participate? This is a glorious invitation from God, that you may participate in the divine nature.

Now, here's back to Romans 12, not being conformed to the patterns of this world. He says, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. Look at verse five. For this very reason, okay, I want you to pay attention here. Last week, we talked about be still and know that I am God, cease striving, you gotta let go of some things, that's awesome, but it's not just letting go of things, it's replacing them with other things. And Peter's gonna give us some things to add into our lives. And I want you to pay attention. It says in verse five, for this reason, for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection, and to mutual affection, love. Look at verse eight. For if you possess these things, you pass the test. Now, that's how many of us live, but that's not what it says. For if you possess these things, these qualities in increasing measure. I mean translation for you that doesn't mean can you put a check in a box that at some point you ever had mutual affection or at some point you ever had love in your heart or at some point you attain some knowledge or at some point

you had what no that's not what he's saying here he's saying for if you possess these qualities and if they are increasing in measure God's plan for you today God's plan for me today is to grow to grow into the likeness of his son to be conformed into the image of Christ and is it day by day chiseling away of the old so that you'll look more and more like him there are so many Christians today who went to a camp when they were 17 came down put their faith in Jesus hit autopilot cruise control wake me up when I get to heaven and Paul and and Peter is reminding us here hey if that's you then you're gonna be unproductive and you're gonna be unfruitful in your knowledge of Jesus Christ and I don't want that for you and I don't want that for me so he says if you possess these things in increasing measure that means there's more love in your heart today than yesterday that means that there's more godliness today than yesterday that means that tomorrow the goal isn't to repeat what happened today but to grow this is God's plan for you and it's his plan for me and then he says but whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins so Peter starts this by saying these words are interesting he starts this section by saying make every effort you're like I thought we were supposed to be still which one is it cease striving or make every effort which one trying harder or being still and I love that Dallas Willard this quote I'll always remember from him he said the gospel isn't opposed to effort it's opposed to earning and I love that striving no cease striving surrendering absolutely you and I the the way that we make every effort is we come and we lay our life down on the altar as a living sacrifice and we hand the chisel into the hands of a sovereign God and we say take it all and make me look like Jesus that's making every effort it's resisting the patterns of this world and being transformed by the renewing of our mind how does that work it's by being soaked in this Word of God so that we don't fall for the lies of this world because we are buoyed and anchored by the truth of God's Word that's how we make every effort he's saying be diligent about these things now I love this list because he says faith and

goodness and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and mutual affection and love how do you get any of those things how do you get faith it's a gift Ephesians chapter 2 it's a gift God does the work how do you get goodness well look up in verse 3 just a few verses above where it says that we are called into his glory and goodness how do we get knowledge how do I make every effort to get that well the scripture says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom you yield to him how do I get self-control well Galatians 5 tells us self-control is a fruit of the Spirit not a works of man perseverance second Thessalonians 3 5 says may the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance how do I get godliness well read up above it is his power gives us everything we need for a godly life how do I get mutual affection the Bible says you have been taught by God to love each other God teaches us how to do that how do I get love the scripture says we love because he first loved us so we make every effort not by striving to produce these virtues but by surrendering to the grace that supplies them we want our minds attention to lead our hearts affection to lead to our hearts affection which would lead ultimately to our lives direction so what do we do how do we access this reset you crawl on to the altar you plant yourself in the Word of God and you surrendering to the chiseling work of the heart in belief that he will make you look like the sun.