Louie Giglio - The Mindset That Leads to Life
This is the last of our collection of talks for now, «Transformed Mind», and this message comes under the title «The Mindset That Leads to Life». We’ve emphasized this throughout the collection, but I’ll say it again today: you have the power to change your mind. There are many things in life you cannot change, amen, but there is something you can change—you can change your mind by renewing it to the truth. I know the enemy is already whispering, «No, not that, because you’ve always been this way. That’s been part of your story for so long. Don’t get your hopes up that this will change.» God is a God of the miraculous, and our story is one of resurrection. If He can bring Jesus from the dead, He can give you the power to change the way you think. We know that if He changes the way we think, then our lives will change as a result. There is no neutral ground. I want to make sure we all understand that today: there is no neutral ground when it comes to the direction our lives are moving in.
There isn’t a «chillax.» I know you might be thinking, «What are your weekend plans?"—"We’re just going to chill at the house.» But while you’re chilling at the house, your mind is still active. When your mind is on something, it’s moving in a direction; your mind never rests. You might say, «No, I zone out sometimes.» Well, when you’re zoned out, your brain is still operational, and it’s moving you either toward yourself or toward God. We’ll express this in different language later in this talk, but your thoughts are either moving you toward what you think, what you want, how you want to decide, and the way you want things to be—your desires—or they’re moving you toward God: what does God think, what does God want, what is God’s desire, what is God saying in this particular situation? There is no neutral ground; your thoughts are always moving you in a direction, and that direction ultimately determines what you are going to become and do. God is saying that you can be transformed. Remember, that’s our baseline from the beginning—Romans 12:2: «Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed.» How? By the renewing of your mind.
So don’t be conformed, pressed into the mold of the way this world says you have to think, but be transformed in a brand new way. The word we’ve used is «metamorphosis». It’s like a butterfly. If you can picture your life changing right before your very eyes—how? By renewing your mind. This is what God is hoping for you: a transformed life, not so you can say, «Yay! I’m a butterfly now, and I’m free to be me,» but so that you can be transformed like a butterfly to say, «I am free from the world’s way of thinking,» to be transformed into the kind of thinking that glorifies God. God isn’t setting us free from one pattern so that we can create our own; He’s setting us free from the world’s pattern so we can align with his pattern, His way of thinking for our lives.
You see this in Romans 8. If you just back up a bit, there’s another phrase where we see the word «conformed». So don’t be conformed to the world, but now we’re going to see a verse that says we are to be conformed to something else. In fact, this is an amazing and powerful passage we’re about to read because some of you have been wanting to know what God’s will for your life is. Has anyone been wanting to know what God’s will and plan for your life is? No? No one here? Everyone’s clear? Okay, a few people. Great! This is going to be amazing for you because you’re about to find out God’s will for your life. You might think, «Oh, this is going to be one of those preacher things where it’s all kind of spiritualized at the end, and I really just need to know, am I supposed to take the job in Cleveland?» If you’ve got a word, then bring it. If not, don’t give me that funny business.
Listen to what God is saying in Romans 8, and we’re going to dive into this whole text today. Verse 28 says, «And we know that in all things God works.» Now, if you want to check out for the rest of the talk, that’s a sermon right there: «In all things God works.» You might say, «Well, I don’t see how He’s working in that situation.» I know; that’s because we’re not God. But in all things, God works, and not only does He work, He works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. We’ll come back to that a little later. And here’s the key verse—there’s God’s will for your life: «For those God foreknew, He also predestined.»
Now, don’t jump out of the promise, okay? We just used two really big theological words in a short phrase. Just hang in there with me for a moment; it’s really, honestly, very simple: «For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed"—there’s our word «conformed». To what? To the likeness of His Son, that He, His Son Jesus, might be the firstborn among many brothers. «And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.»
That’s God’s will for your life in two verses. What does it mean? It means that God knows things before they happen. He foreknew your step of faith in Jesus and, knowing that, He predetermined that when you made that step of faith in Jesus, He would work to conform you into the very likeness of the Jesus you put your faith in. When He foreknew that you were going to make that decision, He predetermined at that time that He would shape you into the likeness of Jesus. He called you into the plan; He justified you. There’s a cross in your story where you’re now set free, and then He glorified you. In other words, He’s written you into the long arc of His story so that when He comes in glory, you’re coming with Him.
God’s will for your life is that you be made into the image of Jesus. God’s will for your life is that you look more like Jesus every single day. You might say, «Thank you so much for that, but we’re really praying about whether we’re supposed to move to Colorado Springs or not.» Honey, He just said Colorado Springs! Ah, that’s amazing! Yes! This is so—yes, we’re moving. How did He know that? I felt the Lord speaking that to me just now. «Tommy, you’re moving to Colorado Springs. Pack it up, bro!» You might also say, «I don’t know, Louis. I’m trying to decide which of the two grad schools I’m going to.» Please don’t give me that mumbo jumbo about being shaped into the likeness of Jesus, called, glorified, justified, predestined, foreknown. I’m trying to decide between two schools, and God is saying, «What difference does it make? Are you going to be a light for Jesus?»
Because I don’t care which school you go to; what I care about is whether you’re going to look like Jesus when you get there. You ask, «What do you mean, God doesn’t care what school I go to?» Nobody ever told me that! Maybe He’s telling you to pick the one you like best. Pick the one that offered you the most money, or the one where you know there’s an opportunity to serve in that town. Pick the one that your parents told you to pick. He probably thinks you’re stressed about option A or B, and I’m looking at the big picture. My will for your life is not to figure out the right grad school; my will for your life is that you would not look like the world, but that you would look like the Savior. That’s the plan: that you would be made conforming to the likeness of Jesus.
You know what? I’m not the most brilliant person on earth, but what I got from these two texts, Romans 12:2 and this one in Romans 8, is that either way, we’re being conformed into something. Once again, there is no neutral in life: your thoughts are either leading you toward God or toward self, and the result of those thoughts is either going to conform you to the world or conform you to the likeness of Christ. Interestingly, these two words tell us the whole story. I know sometimes we get down to the original language and talk about the Greek, and people just zone out, wondering why it’s important that we always refer to the Greek words and their meanings. It’s because the Bible wasn’t written in English. When Paul was writing this letter, he was writing it in Greek. So if you really want to understand what he’s trying to convey to the people, you have to peel back the layers to the language he used.
I’m looking at two words that both translate to «conform» in English. In Romans 12:2, the word is «suske matizo», a great word. However, its meaning conveys assuming a similar outward form by following the same pattern, model, or mold. In other words, it’s like Jell-O, which will take the shape of whatever mold you put it in. If you want it to look like a star, great! Get a little star mold, pour the liquid in there, and put it in the fridge, and you’ve got a star. You want it to look like a Christmas tree? Great! Get a Christmas tree mold, pour it in there, stick it in the fridge, and it’s going to look like a Christmas tree. If you’re in a hurry, just grab a baking dish. Pour it in, and in a few minutes, it’s going to be an inch thick and square. That’s what this word means to me.
But when we look at Romans 8, where it says we’re conformed to the likeness of Jesus, we get a different word in Greek. We don’t get «suske matizo»; we get «summorphos». Another word might sound similar in English, but when you look back at the Greek, you find two different words with two different meanings. «Summorphos» means that we are conformed or shaped by sharing, listen to this, the same inner essence or identity, showing similar behavior from having the same essential nature. Thus, conforming to the world is like Jell-O being poured into a mold. That’s you just thinking you’re in neutral while being shaped into the mindset of the world, chilling in the freezer for a minute, and that’s what you become.
However, conforming to the likeness of Jesus comes from a relationship with Him, whereby we are now united with Christ and take on the very life of Christ through the Holy Spirit. So, from within, with a brand new identity in Christ, we are changed from the inside out into the likeness of Jesus. The world’s conforming us from the outside in, squeezing us into its mold, while Christ is transforming us from the inside out. It all depends on where we set our mind. Romans 8:5 states: «Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set.» We heard this in the giving at 5:15, by the way, so we’re all on the same page. «Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.»
So that begs the question, doesn’t it? Where is your mindset? In a given moment, in a given day, kind of on the regular, where is your mindset? Is it set on the flesh? «What do I want? What do I desire? What do I think? How can I be in control?» Or is it set on the Spirit? «What does God want? What does God think? I want God to be in control. I want to know what God is saying about this moment.» It’s essential that we get it right because the stakes are high. The next verse says, in the translation I was particularly tuned into during my college years, the New American Standard Version of the Bible, which I’m in the NIV now, but I always remember this verse because when I looked it up, it was a bit different in verse 6. I love how the New American Standard puts it: «For the mindset on the flesh is death, but the mindset on the Spirit is life and peace.»
The stakes are high. If I choose a mindset that is selfish and focused on the flesh, the result will be destructive. However, the mindset on the Spirit will lead to life. In other words, good things will develop within me that actually endure and hold meaning now and forever, producing peace—the very thing we all seek the most.
So how does this work? It works by us getting God’s narrative in every frame of our story. I don’t know if anyone remembers reading a Sunday newspaper? No? Yes? What were you pumped about? The comics? Do they even exist anymore? I didn’t check, but everyone used to have their favorite. Does anybody remember any of them? Beetle Bailey? Anyone my age? Was that a thing? Snoopy? Charlie Brown?
In those few frames, an entire story was told—probably total dialogue: 40 words max. Little bubbles here, little bubbles there, a facial expression, a change in circumstance; it’s raining now. And we loved those little stories, right? I wanted you to see your life like that today—I want you to see the frames that are passing by. It’s not just one big, long life; it’s these frames, these moments, these circumstances. In every one of those frames, if you’re going to have a new mindset that leads to life, you need a God narrative in every frame. In whatever the situation is, you need God’s narrative in that frame.
When you get it, you have to know it, believe it, repeat it, be shaped by it, and live it. In fact, there’s a huge narrative in your frame right now if you’re a Christian. According to these two verses we read about God, who knew you before, predetermined His plan for your life to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus, called you, justified you, glorified you. Just in that, there’s a God narrative in your story right now. Do you know what it is? «I am secure in a sovereign plan.» You are not hanging in the wind! No, no, no! He knew you before He predetermined what He would make you to be, called you, justified you, glorified you!
«I am secure in a sovereign plan, led by the Spirit to become like the Savior with whom I am united for all eternity.» Put that in the frame! You say, «Well, I can see the frames, but I don’t know how to get a God narrative.» Let me give you a few. We’re not going to stand up as they come along, like we did last week, although that was powerful. We are going to stand at the end, so if one of these narratives resonates with you specifically as we pray at the end here at Cumberland, you’ll have an opportunity just to stand and say, «God spoke to me today, and I want to say amen and affirm and receive what God is saying into the frames of my story right now.»
Every story is different and needs a unique God narrative spoken into it, but there are several in this text. One of the richest chapters in all of Scripture provides us with the first narrative: «Condemnation is finished». Somebody needs that in your frame today. You are living under the weight of the condemnation the enemy is putting on your life. Meanwhile, you’ve put your faith in the finished work of Jesus and are united with Him in His death and resurrection. Because of that, condemnation no longer has a grip on you. You might wonder, «Where are you getting these ideas?» Straight out of the Bible: «Verse 1: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus».
Don’t you love that? Not for people who feel like they aren’t condemned. It has nothing to do with feelings; it’s positional, not emotional. If you’re in Christ, then He took all the condemnation you deserved. It rested on Him; He died under the weight of it and paid its penalty. Now, in Christ, there is no condemnation for you. So do you know that? A. Do you believe that? B. Can you repeat that to yourself until you actually live in it? That narrative becomes part of your story. Yes, there’s a train wreck in my story, but I also have a God narrative saying, «There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.» It doesn’t mean there are no consequences; it just means there’s no condemnation.
What does that look like? Living it out means I’m not trying to condemn anybody else. I’m trusting the Holy Spirit to work on you because He’s working on me too, and I’m definitely not looking to condemn someone else because God didn’t condemn me; He condemned His Son instead. I’ve got my mind set on the Spirit, and when I set my mind on the Spirit, I get a new narrative in my story.
The second narrative is this: «You are free from the flesh,» but you need to hear the rest of the sentence: «You are free from the flesh to the degree that you are controlled by the Spirit.» That’s what the Scripture says, beginning in verse 9: «You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.» Once again, there’s no neutral. We are going to be controlled. For those of us who want to say, «No, not me. I’m my own person, and I do my own thing,» it’s like, «No, you do not.» Your flesh, as sinful as it is, will control you. It will tell you what to do, lead you to decisions, and determine the pathway of your life, the well-being of your family, and your future destination. It will control you. Can I get an amen?
Or we can relinquish control and submit to the Holy Spirit’s control. But either way, we’re going to be controlled. There is no neutral; there isn’t just me riding my own boat and doing my own thing. Thank you very much; I don’t need the flesh, I don’t need the Spirit; it’s just me. No, it’s not just you. Your thoughts are leading you towards God or towards self. Your mind is either set on the flesh or the Spirit. The mindset on the flesh will control you, but it doesn’t have to because resurrection power lives in you, as it says a few verses down in verse 11: «If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you.»
That’s really what’s at stake today. God wants to transform you, to conform you to the likeness of Jesus. The word «likeness» is «icon» in Greek, meaning that you would be an icon of Christ. You wouldn’t be Christ, but you would be an iconic expression of Him because you share the same essence as He lives in you through the Spirit. As you yield to the Spirit day in and day out and have that narrative in the story—that you’re free from the power of the flesh, but only to the degree that you yield to the Spirit—you need to make that move right now.
You need to keep making that move, keep changing your mindset, just as you need to make that move again and again. The third narrative is this: «Your Father is greater than your fear.» Somebody needs that in your frame today. Verse 15 says, «For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear.» Isn’t it great when all the nice slogans and talks come straight from the Bible? «But you received the spirit of sonship or daughtership.» Really, the word means «adoption» into the family of God. You received the spirit of adoption, and by the Spirit, we cry to God: «Abba.»
That’s an intimate word, not quite «Daddy,» but it’s on the way to «Daddy.» It’s not just «Yes, Sir, Dad» or «Yes, Sir, Father.» It’s intimate. Now, Yahweh and I are in a relationship. What does God do? He puts the juxtaposition of fear up against Father. Because you have a Father, and you’ve been adopted into this new spirit, you don’t have a spirit of fear in your life. When I’m living and operating in fear, it reminds me I’ve set my mindset on the flesh: «I don’t know how I’m going to handle this,» instead of thinking, «Oh, I need to set my mindset on the Spirit. I have a Father, and He runs the universe. He’s got me.»
Any parent knows how to respond to a child’s fear. You don’t just dismiss their fears or say, «You’re being silly.» If you’re a good father, you will come to your child and say, «I’m here.» The good dad doesn’t even say, «Let’s look in the closet.» That won’t suffice. A good dad will go into the closet. He tells his daughter, «Daddy’s not afraid of what’s in the closet. I’ll show you! I’m here!» That narrative needs to be in someone’s story today. The answer to your fear isn’t necessarily to get more faith; it’s to realize you have a Father.
Now these next narratives will come by a little quicker. Number four: «You are in God’s will» (not in His will like «conformed to the likeness,» but «in His will»). Verse 17 states, «Now, if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.» In other words, I don’t know what you’re getting from Papa Aunt Janet, but I do know you’ve been written into the will of Almighty God. The will—not merely «the will"—but the will at the end of your story. You’re a quadrillionaire! Right now, you’re a co-heir with Christ; what Christ has, you have.
Somebody needs that in your narrative right now. The fifth one is this: «Our present sufferings will be swallowed up by future glory.» There’s nothing about God’s plan in this text that says we won’t have suffering in our life; in fact, it states the opposite. In the frame of pain is a God story, and the God story is this: «This is terrible, but it pales in comparison to the future glory that’s coming.» Hold on! Verse 18 says, «I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.»
Number six is simple: «God will work it out.» That’s the verse we started with. «And we know that in all things, God works.» Let’s say that together: «And we know that in all things, God works.» At Cumberland, say it with us: «And we know that in all things, God works, and He works for the good of those who love Him.»
I’m telling you, this is not a small, simple spiritual slogan for people who are having a hard time. If you step into someone’s devastating moment, please don’t bring this verse with you. Don’t show up when someone has tragically lost a loved one and say, «Well, the Bible says all things work together for the good of those who love God.» Just hold on for a moment, and let that person grieve. When the sun rises again, there will be a moment for you and your friend or family member to stand on this truth; to have a God narrative in that frame of life, the tragic or unwinnable frame of life; that says, «I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but I do know that God works in all things. God works! If things don’t work out, God’s not finished yet! When God finishes, everything will come together as intended! for even if our stories don’t get resolved on this side of heaven, they will ultimately be worked out because there will be a moment when we say, 'Thank you, God, that you were working in that event.' Oh man, where would I be if you were not working amid that? Only you could do that with a broken world like ours!»
Lastly, this chapter concludes with the most powerful benediction that injects into our frames the truth: «Nothing can separate us from the love of God»! Do you believe that today? «What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?» Surely there can be someone against us, but who are they? I’m not going to combat them! I’m not going to vilify them, or fight against them! I refuse to live my entire existence focused on eradicating them or having every conversation dominated by the story of them. Yes, they’re against me for sure. But hello, let me tell you about who is for me! God Almighty is on my side. God Almighty is in my camp. God Almighty is my defender! If my God is for me, then who is going to be against me?
Somebody needs that God narrative in your frame today. God is still for me! Like, «Louis, it doesn’t look like God is for me; it looks like they’re winning.» Let Him conform you from the inside out. Let Him use it. Let Him work through them. They were against me, but God was forming me! They tried to knock me out, but God was trying to build me up! You put me in the heat, and God used that heat to mold me more into the iconic representation of His Son! He got some of the rough edges off me in that furnace! Thank you for being against me, because God used it.
He was for me! His will for me is to be more like Jesus, and it took someone like you being against me to make me more like the One who gave His life for me. Thank you so much! I appreciate you! Thank you, God! And that wasn’t even the message, but hello! «He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Jesus graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No. In all these things—and there are going to be all these things—we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.»
Love is the operational power between God and those He’s molding into the image of Jesus. Listen to Paul’s words: «I am convinced"—in other words, I’ve got a mindset! People, I’ve got a mindset! I need you to know my mind is set! I am convinced! I heard it, I believed it, I repeated it, I got shaped by it, and I’m living it—I’m convinced that neither death nor life, angels nor demons, the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Somebody needs that in your frame today! Somebody needs a God narrative in your frame today! It’s not good, but it can’t separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus, and it can’t stop His purpose because you are secure in a sovereign plan, led by the Spirit to become like the Savior with whom you have been united for all eternity! Set your mind on the things of God! Get a narrative from God in your frame, and believe it!