Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect.”

Weird title right?! I said the same thing when God gave it to me and thought “Ain’t no way in the world those two words supposed to go together!” Then God responded with the scripture above. He be real quick and funny with His clapbacks, so I just receive it. For some of us, that scripture won't be enough to make sense of that title, so let's first breakdown the two words separately.  

Replacement is the act of replacing something/someone with something/someone else. In case you didn't know, to replace is to put someone or something new in the place or position of someone or something else. I'm not so sure about you all, but I find myself replacing EVERYTHING!!!! I replaced friends, diet options, men, even would do this thing where if I gave to the poor or helped someone out with groceries or something, that would be my replacement for giving tithes. Judge me if you want, but to me it made sense. Even when I couldn't get the attention I wanted from my dad, I got so upset with him that I replaced the attention I wanted from him and put it on men, because maybe they could give me something I couldn't get from him. Let's go deeper, and don't make it seem like I'm the only person that does this, but I even replace my devotion time with a mini praise and worship, a small thank you Lord for waking me up, or even preparing for a bible study as if it's enough to live off of. Before I go too deep though, let's get a clear understanding of disorder.

Disorder has a few definitions like: to disturb the regular or normal functions of; a confused or messy state; lack of order or organization; or my favorite, a physical or mental condition that is not normal or healthy. You may ask “TaNia, why in the world is that your favorite?!?” It is because, I, TaNia Moore, have a tendency to replace taking responsibility, for what I know is right, with playing the victim and I can automatically victimize a situation in my favor if it's attached to a mental condition. For the majority of us it's ALL mental because of our level of conformity to this world.

Now I think we can connect the two words. Society makes us feel like instead of God taking the place of that missing father, jacked up relationship, money, or whatever, replace that void with something else that would make you feel more and more helpless, and now the world has created a mental condition that even pushes believers away from God. Just in case this doesn't make sense to someone, let's use a scenario. Because of my other articles, we all know that I've been raped, and have had addictions. Those things that were supposed to get rid of the pain actually created more pain and it created chaos and “disorder” to the point where my life seemed all out of whack. When I didn't get compliments and advice from my dad, I replaced that with feeding into every compliment and line a man gave me. When things didn't work out with my ex fiancée, I replaced loving someone with just being physical with them and moving on. When things didn't work out with friends, I would replace them with another friend. When I got done with a bottle of alcohol, I replaced it with another, and so on and so forth. Because I didn't choose God to take the place of all of my needs and wants, I created a mental condition that I now call Replacement Disorder.

Now I think we can connect the two words. I may be the only person who deals with this issue, then again, I may not be. If there is someone else who sees that they have issues with just giving everything to God and they find it easier to replace trusting in Him completely with worldly things, then I would have to say GET OVER YOURSELF! That's like a handicapped person being told that a cure was created to completely heal them from head to toe and has absolutely no side effects, but they say “Naw, I enjoy the pain.” It's unnecessary because God is literally right in front of us saying “You don’t have to do this alone! I'M here for you! Was my ONLY sons’ sacrifice not great enough for you to see that I would do ANYTHING for you!” Let go of the excuses that tell you He won't be enough, because He will and He is!

Father, I come to you right now boldly asking that you forgive me for believing that the things of this world are greater than you! I ask that you bring order to the disorder i've created, clean the cluttered spaces of my mind that are filled with foolish thoughts that make me believe you can't replace the pain with joy and peace. I also pray for those in denial of these things Lord. I ask that you heal your people and let them know that you never left their side. Thank you for all of the amazing things you've done for us and for forgiving us over and over again. We love you and we praise you. Amen.

By: TaNia Moore