Biblical truth is always practical because it is God’s instructions to those who have been given His Spirit on how to think, what to feel and how to live for Him! That may scare some people because “cults” practice mind-control, and some even twist parts of the Bible to guilt people into doing absurd, irrational things. Yet, few understand that the sinful nature is born in bondage to sin, bent toward wrong thinking, wrong feeling, and wrong action. SIN comes naturally to those without the Spirit, and even as believers, we struggle to put off the old nature and to put on the new nature. How can you “change”? How can you grow in Christ? How can you learn to live a life pleasing to Him? God gives a rather brief answer in the two verses of our text today and then explains it further in the verses and chapters that follow. You must learn to live every day in view of God’s mercy to you in Christ. You must respond to His mercy by presenting yourself to God as an act of worship. Your life has been redeemed, purchased, by the blood of Christ, and you now belong to Him … not as a slave, but as a child who has been adopted into His family! Even though you still live in this world (temporarily), your Father in heaven is at work to transform your thinking, your feeling, and your acting by renewing your mind, by filling your mind with His truth. God’s truth combats all the lies you hear from your own flesh, from the world around you, and from Satan. As you read, study, and learn what GOD says in His Word, you become able to discern what is good and acceptable and perfect … what is pleasing to GOD, and pleasing Him becomes your goal. The “obedience of faith,” towards which God is leading all His children, is a place of peace and joy, and contentment. Living life to please God rather than self is freedom!! As Jesus told His disciples, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” (John 8:32). May His Word accomplish His purpose in you today!!