Scripture: Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Reflection:
Paul’s instruction is not a one-time event.
The renewing of the mind is ongoing. Transformation does not conclude with a single insight and then stop. We are continually being invited to see differently, understand more deeply, and reconsider things we thought we had already figured out. The life of faith requires a certain openness — the humility to admit that God may not be finished with something simply because we think we are.
That can be difficult because we like conclusions. Once we have decided what a person is like, what a passage of Scripture means, what an experience taught us, or what we believe about a particular issue, we tend to close the file. We stop expecting anything new from it. Sometimes we even mistake certainty for maturity.
But renewal asks something different of us. It asks us to remain open.
That makes this an important practice of hospitality too. Hospitality is not only making room for another person. It is making room within ourselves for something we did not already know. The stranger may have something to teach us. The person we thought we understood may surprise us. An old story may reveal something we never noticed. A familiar word may suddenly speak differently because we are different than we were the last time we heard it.
Perhaps your Star Word is one example.
Eight months ago, you pulled a word from a basket and carried it into a new year. Maybe it meant something immediately. Maybe it didn’t. Perhaps it has become deeply important to you, or perhaps it is now tucked inside a Bible, taped to a mirror you’ve stopped noticing, or sitting in a drawer somewhere.
Pick it up again today — not because the word itself possesses some special power, but because returning to something familiar can become a practice of openness. Read it as though you don’t already know what it means. Ask what you see now that you could not have seen in January.
And then consider where else you might need to do the same thing.
What person, experience, Scripture, question, or conviction have you decided is finished speaking to you?
The renewing of our minds begins, at least in part, when we become willing to open the door again.
Writing Prompt: What have you decided you already understand — a person, an experience, a Scripture, a question, or even your Star Word? What might change if you approached it again with curiosity rather than certainty?
Application: Have one conversation today in which you deliberately practice curiosity. Ask someone a question you don't already know the answer to, and resist the urge to respond with your own story or opinion. Simply listen for something you haven't heard before.
Prayer: God, I am quick to decide that I already understand. Keep renewing my mind. Give me the humility to look again, listen again, and remain open to what I have not yet seen. Make room within me for the people, questions, and possibilities through which your grace may still surprise me. Amen.