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Most people wait for the new year, a new month, a new week, or another day to start something new. When the calendar flips from one year to the next, this is when people gear up to make changes. Hoping these changes will be lifelong. A fresh start, if you will. A new year, new you. Some only make it a few weeks, some a few months, others not even a day. Why, though? Why can’t we seem to stick out the renewal process?

Why did I decide to wait until March to talk about renewal, when most others talk about this at the beginning of the year? I waited because Spring is the time when God says this is the renewal of a new season, a time for life to being anew. Spring brings along with it, flowers in bloom and their sweet fragrance. The trees get back their color. The sun shines even brighter in the sky. The crispness of the air thaws a little. The warmth returns. The bird’s chirp and the creatures of this earth move about with an energy not seen in months. It felt fitting to me to wait for this season of renewal to talk about renewal.

“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.”

How do we renew our minds? Renewal needs to start with the Word of God. Filling our minds with God’s truth, His Word. We do this by studying the Word of God. Researching, learning, gleaning, gathering, praying, listening, and doing. Because our transformation starts with our minds. When our minds are filled with God, true and lasting transformation occurs.

Once we can wrap our minds around who God is, what His truths are, then we can transfer this over to other areas of our lives. As the saying goes, it’s mind over matter. If we put our minds to it, we can do it. This is true, yes, but let’s take it a step further. With God ALL things are possible, and if we renew our minds daily with who He is, we can achieve the goal that we have set before us. With God’s Word guiding and leading us, wonderful, amazing things can and will happen.

Renewal is something that we should always strive for. It’s something that we shouldn’t have to wait for a certain time of year. It doesn’t matter when we start the renewal process. It only matters that we start.

Michele Arnold