Five Steps to Lasting Renewal

Maybe you too are thankful for rhythms of this season: rhythms of slow and rhythms of rest. As our summer draws to a close, my mind is already focusing on a fresh school year and the many goals I want to implement or change from last year. What I’m realizing, however, is that more than change, my heart is longing for renewal: renewed energy, renewed vision, renewed motivation.

Anyone else?

Last year provided a unique experience for all of us, and while it brought sweet fruit in places I wasn’t expecting, I feel as though it created some patterns that need changing.

Have you thought about the difference between a pattern and a rhythm?

While both are repetitive in nature, a pattern actually sets the model for our actions or thoughts, while a rhythm represents the repeated action.

When we deeply feel the need for change, it’s time to assess the patterns in our life rather than the constant changing of rhythms. Rhythms will continue to shift according to season or stage of life, but they will usually follow the pattern that has been set in place.

What patterns do you notice in your life right now?

How do you begin each day?

What’s your mindset as you parent through another episode of sibling rivalry?

How is your heart responding to constant unknowns and open prayer requests?

How do your words form in conversation with someone who is difficult to love?

These patterns form a trench of thoughts, words, and actions that create a pathway for our rhythms to move in repetition. Each time, the trench is carved more deeply making it easier for the next thought or action to follow the same course.

It made me think of this image on a dirt road after an evening storm. The water, needing somewhere to run off, simply followed the groove in the center of the road. This pattern formed by storms now simply invites water to continue flowing in the same direction, causing a gap in the road for its travelers.

As we go about the actions of our day or allow our mind to process thoughts, do we simply follow the path formed over time or can we intentionally choose a different way? If we can intentionally choose, then the question is not how can we change, but how can we create new patterns and fill the gaps along the way.

Over the summer I’ve been leading this TRUTHFILLED bible study for teens by Ruth Chou Simons with a group of 14-year-old girls. Romans 12:2 has been the central verse to shape our discussions and form our prayerful words. It gives us the needed starting place for true renewal.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Each week we have taken time as a group to assess our thought life and to identify the source of these patterns that form in our minds. As Ruth says, “We are what we think.”

For lasting change and renewal to come into our lives, we need more than a change of behavior or circumstances. We need to pray for transformation by renewing our minds. As we renew our minds, new patterns will be formed.

five steps

The following 5 steps have been incredibly beneficial for me as I seek to walk out this process for renewal:

1.       Identify the specific area in need of renewal. (Marriage, friendships, self-image, self-confidence, etc.)

2.       Name what thought patterns tend to dominate that space. (“I’ll never be enough.”, “It will never get better.”, “I can’t do any more.”, etc.)

3.       Ask if that thought pattern is based on fact or on feeling?

4.       Find a verse from God’s word that addresses that pattern and commit it to memory.

5.       As each thought attempts to take captive this area in your life, repeat what you know to be true and form a new pattern. Write down what is true, and place it around you so that you can refer to it often.

While transformation is a process, remember that it takes repetition and something greater than yourself for new patterns to form. Those old patterns didn’t form on their own overnight, therefore true and lasting renewal will be a gradual and life changing process. Allow God to be apart of this process and trust Him with it.

As I look to the fall season, I am confident that this renewed vision and motivation I so deeply desire is connected to my thought life and my daily decisions. As I form healthy and sustainable patterns built upon what God tells me is true in His word, I can begin to experience lasting renewal for seasons to come. Will you join me?