“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
The Greek for ‘do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world’ carries the meaning of ‘Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mould.’ As in many other passages of Scripture, ‘the world’ means not planet Earth, but the world system, the realm of unregenerate mankind. Every day we feel the squeeze from the world: to fit in with the crowd, to buy the latest fashions, to pursue the things it values, to adopt the same moral code about what is right and wrong as it does. The Bible tells us we are not to let this happen. God has told us what is right and wrong. God has told us what we should value in life. And when the Bible tells us not to do something (‘do not conform’), it also tells us what to do instead: ‘But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ This is the work of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us. The mind is the place of thoughts, emotions, and willpower. A mature Christian is one whose will is aligned with God’s – and His will is always ‘good, pleasing and perfect’. Let the Holy Spirit do that work in you today, to shape you into the image of Christ. After all, He submitted Himself to the Father’s will – we should too.
We are not to be fulfilled with the wrong-doings of our society, but to overcome them and become someone more courageous and insightful.
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