Who Molds Your Thinking? - AVOID BEING MOLDED BY THIS SYSTEM

At Romans 12:2, we are counseled: "Stop being molded by this system of things, but be transformed by  making your mind over, so that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God."  Those inspired words show that whatever molded our thinking before we learned the truth, it is possible to bring our thoughts into closer harmony with God's. True, our thinking has to some extent been influenced b y hereditary factors and past experiences.  But the mind is flexible and can keep changing.  To a large extent, any such changes will be determined by what we allow into our mind and what we choose to dwell on.  By dwelling or meditating on Jehovah's way of thinking, we can proved  to ourselves that his viewpoints are right. It will then be our natural desire to bring our thoughts into alignment with his. 

Note, however, that in order to make our mind over to Jehovah's way of thinking, we need to "stop being molded by this system." We must stop taking into our minds ideas or viewpoints that are in opposition to God's. The importance of this preliminary  step can be illustrated with food. A person might seek to improve his health by eating food that is nutritious.  But of what value would that be if he  is also ingesting regular doses of contaminated food?  Similarly, feeding on Jehovah's thoughts will be of limited value if we are corrupting our mind with worldly ideas. 

Can we avoid all contact with the world's thinking?  No, we cannot literally get of the world.  Some exposure to its ideas is inescapable.  (1 Corinthians  5:9,10) The preaching work itself will bring us in contact with erroneous beliefs.  However, where contact with ungodly views is unavoidable, we certainly  need not entertain them or accept them.  Like Jesus, we should be quick to reject thoughts that serve Satan's purpose. Furthermore, we can protect ourselves from unnecessary exposure to the world's thinking. - Read Proverbs 4:23. 

Next time: Who Molds Your Thinking? - Conclusion of AVOID BEING MOLDED BY THIS SYSTEM

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