One thing we can count on is that life will have some detours. I don’t care how much you know or think you may know, or how much experience you have in life, you will have detours.

In those detours, life goes under construction. In other words, we’re building our lives through experience and our thoughts; good or bad. It is time that we build godly roads to our divine destiny.

Here’s the problem. No one likes the inconvenience of detours. They’re messy, dirty and distracting, and they slow you down. But we have to remember that the end result of a detour is an improved road to your destination.

Romans 12:1-2 uses words like, "present your bodies a living sacrifice ... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

"Living sacrifice" means to serve and obey God only, not to serve and obey your flesh. "Conformed" means to form or mold into the world’s system. Your body ("flesh") has been trained to sin by the world’s system, but we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind to think differently, moving from your flesh to your spirit.

Here’s a definition of your flesh; a mindset, it is a pattern of operating, it’s a coping strategy by which we trust ourselves to handle problems and meet our needs instead of trusting God. In the world, this is called will power or self-help. The flesh is a law or principle that expresses itself through the body, which pulls you toward sin and away from God’s will and what’s best for your life.

We have to do construction on our flesh through the word of God. Your flesh will use coping strategies to stay in control, drinking, smoking, drugs, sex, lying, etc.

Paul said in Romans 7:22, "I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin."

Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."

And if your flesh is thinking for you, that’s what you will become. In other words, you will act out how you see yourself. We must take the flesh off the throne of our lives and put his Spirit on the throne.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:27, "But I discipline my body (flesh) and bring it into subjection."

Romans 7:22 says, "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man."

The inward man is your spirit that stays connected to God.

I know we don’t like detours or construction, but they are necessary to get you to your destination. So keep moving forward.

Paige is the pastor of Immanuel Christian Center and a member of the United Ministerial Alliance.