Sunday, September 5 Stop being molded by this system of things.​—Rom. 12:2.

[Áine]

Sunday, September 5

Stop being molded by this system of things.—Rom. 12:2.

 

Paul was concerned because some Christians were apparently being influenced by the unwholesome reasonings and philosophies promoted by Satan’s world. (Eph. 4:17-19) That can happen to any one of us. In a desperate attempt to turn us away from Jehovah, Satan, the god of this system of things, uses various tactics. One of them is that of exploiting any tendency we may have toward selfish ambition or self-promotion. He may even use certain aspects of our background, our culture, or our education to bring us over to his way of thinking. Is it possible for us to root out things that are “strongly entrenched” in our minds? (2 Cor. 10:4) Notice how Paul answers: “We are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5) Yes, with Jehovah’s help we can actually gain control over wrong reasonings. w19.06 8 ¶1-3

[Amygdala]

10 hours ago, Anniebea said:

One of them is that of exploiting any tendency we may have toward selfish ambition or self-promotion.

We learned of this in last week’s WT study about an elder’s over-confidence, and this past week‘s bible reading where Moses fell into this. Moses probably thought that he had been so successful up to that point leading the people, that he felt some kind of self-praise and acknowledgment about his works was justified. 

 

It’s a good lesson to keep oneself sound in mind and avoid the tendency to be self-focused, ambitious, and feeling the need to always be on top. This will help to always give Jehovah the proper credit for any successes we have, and avoid problems in dealing with others by squashing the spirit of competitiveness. 

[Vinnie]

 Now is one one the most dangerous time to fall into this trap of focusing too much on ourselves. We need to keep our eyes open and alert to the world and events around us. The time left is reduced therefore, what sort of persons ought we to be, we are warned?  The times we live in are like the days of Noah. We don't want to fail to take note and be distracted by the lures of this failing world.

[wallyahoo]

The transformation Paul had in mind involves more than a superficial change in appearance. It touches every fiber of our being,,—our innermost attitudes, feelings, and inclinations.

jesus helps us to see It is not enough to get rid of wrong thoughts; we need to fill the void with godly thinking.

matt 12:43-45. June 2019 wt

[Ms. Piffle]

Paul pointed out what would help keep our thinking from being influenced by Satan and his world.  He said we must bring "every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5). Paul was reminding us that it is vital that we have control over our thoughts, our thinking.  - it was like putting them into captivity, holding them captive so they don't have the freedom to influence us. But he also said we needed to make our thoughts obedient to the Christ. So we must redirect our thoughts, to  discipline them if need be, so they will learn to be obedient to the Christ.  

[Lee49]

I believe the RC talk on " We Must Have Faith Without Doubt " touched on this , when tempted avoid giving into - immoral desires, the pursuit of material things and that we could become prideful and " ambitiously " try to out do others.