ROMANS 12:2

Do not conform 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.

TO PONDER

I really like the Message version of verses 1 and 2 of Romans 12: So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

God’s free gift to us is not paradise on an island by ourselves, immersed in playing one‑person computer games, or having an infinite supply of piña coladas, or whatever activity we enjoy doing by ourselves.

When we look at the Heavenly Family, we see three persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit, so committed in their relationships with one another, that they are seen as a single unity. The gift Jesus has bought for us is to be a member of this family, and that means being part of the unity that exists in this family. Now, we may struggle to get our minds around this, but we see glimpses of this in some of our relationships here on earth, most likely in the marriages of two people who are fully committed to the welfare of each other.

Paul mentions in this passage that the society around us is not likely to be a healthy example of how to live as God’s children. Its tendency is to be about looking after ourselves, although we do often see amazing acts of love and compassion. But the example of outwardly focused love we are called to want to emulate is the life of Jesus when He lived on this earth. He was never concerned about His own welfare, but always focused on His Father’s will for Him and the needs of the people around Him. So, as Paul says, the transformation God wants to achieve in us is brought about by the work of God in us – through the work of Holy Spirit. Our response is to surrender ourselves to that work of Holy Spirit, and welcome His transforming work in our personalities and priorities.

Then our relationships with our families, friends and others will also be transformed, not because we are trying harder, but because our thinking, attitudes and priorities have been changed to align with God’s plan for us.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I give You all that I am and have, so that You can transform me to live the life You always planned for me to live. Amen

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping