“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove [demonstrate, experience] the good, acceptable and perfect will of God [Jer. 29:11].”
—Romans 12:2

YOU ARE AS FREE AS YOU WANT TO BE

Freedom is one of those words we adore but rarely understand. We imagine it as wide landscapes and open doors, empty calendars and unlimited choices, escape routes and clean slates. We picture freedom as the absence of something: no chains, no debts, no demands, no limits. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but that is not where true freedom begins.

Scripture whispers a far more unsettling truth:

Freedom isn’t the absence of captivity; freedom is the ability to choose.

The Apostle Paul writes with surgical clarity that we can choose to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” or not. That is, we choose freedom (transformation of our circumstances) by actively renewing our mind’s perspective.

→ Captivity is not a circumstance you falsely believe has power over you.
→ Captivity is a shape your thoughts take. And you choose your thoughts.

The truth is this: if you do not deliberately choose your thoughts and the patterns they follow, someone else will choose them for you—and their choices will not be crafted with your wellbeing in mind. What we often call “lack of agency” is nothing more than an illusion, the false belief that we are helpless before our circumstances.

Captivity begins not in the external world but in the inner one. It is the mould your imagination quietly agrees to, the pattern your inner life obeys long before your outer life reflects it. Change the mould, and you inevitably change the world built around it.

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

Edgar Allan Poe

Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, teaches us that transformation is a choice, a choice to change the way you see things. When we change our minds, when we choose to see things differently, the world will confirm our choice.

We transform our lives the moment we learn to see ourselves differently. If we insist on viewing ourselves as victims, life will faithfully reflect that story back to us. But if we choose to see ourselves as sovereign, whole, and free, our experience will rise to meet that vision.

Our thoughts matter—because our thoughts quite literally become matter.

Every one of us is a dreamer. The world we inhabit is the sum of the internal parameters we have subconsciously accepted as true. Life does not determine our beliefs; our beliefs determine the shape life takes around us. This is why some people wander through a dream while others remain trapped in a nightmare.

Still unsure?

Look at how Jesus Himself links inner sight with outer experience—how He binds perception, faith, and outcome into one seamless reality:

“Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done unto you.’”
— Matthew 9:27

What you believe is nothing more than what you have been fully persuaded is true. And what persuades you is ultimately the way you see the world—your inner lens, your inner vision, your inner narrative. Change the way you see, and you will change what you believe and, consequently, the way you experience life.

That is why Paul writes to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Why are you waiting for God to change the outer world when He said you only need to change your inner world to experience the transformation you long for?

MEDITATION VERSE

“As a person thinks, so they are.” — Proverbs 23:7

DEVOTIONAL PRAYER

Father, teach me to recognise every place where I have surrendered my freedom to a lie.
Teach me to actively renew my mind—the way I see myself, my circumstances and the world.
Reconstruct my thoughts. Help me question what I thought was true and real.
Help me rebuild my inner world until my imagination aligns with Your truth.
Help me replace every false pattern and every counterfeit narrative I have allowed to shape me.
Teach me to choose the freedom You have already given me in Christ.
Let my mind become a sanctuary where Your will is discerned, embraced, and expressed.
Amen.