Dealing with Unhealthy Trends

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[Genesis 38:6-14 KJV] “And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar. [7] And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord ; and the Lord slew him. [8] And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. [9] And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. [10] And the thing which he did displeased the Lord : wherefore he slew him also”.

[11] “Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did . And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house. [12] And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. [13] And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep. [14] And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife”.

(Reading: Genesis 38:6-28)

Remember this!

Nothing would change around here until, we renew our minds. Transformation only comes through a changed mind. Everything around a people begins to change when the people change their minds.

You will notice in the story of Tamar and Judah that there was nothing wrong with Tamar. She was not an evil woman; whatever was killing the men had to do with them, and not with Tamar. Er died because he did something that was displeasing to the Lord; Onan also died because he displeased God. Tamar did nothing wrong, the young men displeased God and that is why they died.

Many a times, we keep running around whereas the solution to our challenges lie with renewing our minds. Real transformation begins with a renewed mind. You can only transform your church when you renew your mind. This is because the mind holds the power to bring the needed transformation.

[Romans 12:1‭-‬3 KJV] “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

[3] For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”.

So, three simple steps to break unhealthy and unhelpful trends are:

1. Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to God as a reasonable service.
2. Don’t conform to the patterns of the world; Renew your mind.
3. Don’t think too highly of yourself, but think soberly, according to the grace given to you.

We can break every unhealthy trend by walking in these keys. These are the secrets that will change all unhealthy trends. You must be willing to endure the pain of dying and the pain of sacrificing. You must decide not to conform to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind, and to think soberly. Many people are failing because they are not ready to pay the price for change.

Judah lost his sons because he took the easy way out. He began to play the blame game. He focused on Tamar, rather than on how his children were brought up. His children did evil in the sight of God. The problem was not Tamar but the problem was the children.

I pray that you will not point fingers at people too quickly when you identify an unhealthy trend around you. I pray that you shall spiritually map out and get to the roots of every unhealthy issue. Stay blessed!

I love you;

Noah Simpe Bediako

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