Therefore I urge
you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
NASB
The first week in 50 Days of Transformation we focused in
Spiritual Health. This differs from
other types of change in our lives that can be accomplished through
accommodating our lives to standards and rules or following a philosophy or creed. Let’s look a little deeper into this.
Conformation
or Transformation Require Surrender
Surrender of
flesh = conformity - And do not be
conformed to this world
Paul warns against matching our lives to the fashions of this
world. People don’t like others being
different as much as they champion diversity.
The recent hot topic has been over a dress that some see as gold and
white and others see as black and blue.
Heated discussions have occurred as each side attempts to persuade the
others to lay down what they perceive and accept what must be right…what they
see. We are uncomfortable when people
don’t agree. It’s easier to just go
along to get along. The problem is chameleon-like
living creates a loss of personal identity. Conformity invites compromise of all our
lives. Don't let the world decide what
you are going to be. This is normally
done for acceptance by others. We are
“being” conformed! That means there is
pressure to change from the world that must be addressed in our lives.
Surrender of
mind = transformation - but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind
The word "transformed" means to change your outward
expression to be representative of and consistent with your inward nature. We understand that very person has the choice
of living "according
to the flesh" or "according to the Spirit". In other words, our choices are in response to
the power of one or the other.
Therefore, if our SPIRITUAL
HEALTH is weak, our ability to stand against the old nature and have our minds
directed by the Spirit is compromised. This renovation of our mental processes is
created by the existence of the mind of Christ taking control of our lives and
exercising transforming power to change us.
Surrender
which is ongoing = growth
While conversion is instantaneous we find that transformation
is life involving. Someone said it this
way, "It took God just one day to
get the children of Israel out of Egypt, but it took God forty years to get
Egypt out of the children of Israel." God can change a person's heart in a moment,
but it takes a lifetime to get the sinful habits out of that individual. The person who ceases to agree with God
concerning their need of change ceases to see the individual God desires to
create.
It is clear then that everyone is either being conformed or
transformed. If you want to know which
one is impacting you then ask this question:
Am I more like Christ today than I
was before or more like the world?
It’s a hard question to answer but necessary to reveal who has control
of our lives.
Scripture to Claim:
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. Colossians 3:2
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. Colossians 3:2
