Lynn H. Blackburn

What does renewing mean anyway?

Well, the dictionary lists quite a few definitions including to make like new: restore freshness, vigor or perfection; to make new spiritually; to begin again.

Those definitions work for me. They go along with what I thought it means to be renewed.

But I decided to dig a little deeper.

(Look out – uncharted territory ahead – I had a Beth Moore moment!)

I pulled up the Greek word used for renew in Romans 12:2. (I used the Greek lexicon found here).

“a)nakaiðnwsiv” is transliterated to “Anakainosis” and the definition is as follows: a renewal, renovation, complete change for the better.

And when I read that definition, my mind took off. Because while renewal makes sense to me, I’m a sucker for a renovation.

I love makeover shows.

My favorite part is the big reveal when the transformation is complete. The experts have worked their magic and we watch with the happy homeowners, frumpy housewife or hairy biker as they wait with high hopes to see something new. And it’s clear from their faces that they don’t even recognize the house that now sits on the curb, or the face that is reflected back to them in the mirror.

There has been a complete change for the better.

A renewal.

But are you like me? Do you ever wonder what these people look like six months later? Is the housewife back in her sweats? Has the biker let his beard grow? Is the grass a foot high in the backyard of the new house?

Without experts on hand to help, were they able to stay “new and improved”?

My guess…probably not.

So what does it take to make the new stick?

That’s what we’ll be exploring tomorrow.

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If you’ve stumbled on us, we’re in the middle of a series called 31 Days of Renewing. You can find links to older posts here.