Vol. 16 No. 28 | July 15, 2013
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2, NIV)
“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.” (Romans 12:2,The Message)
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NLV)
What does it mean to be “be transformed?”
The best and most simple way to help you understand would be to have you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
To be transformed means to be changed from what you once were to what you were created to be. It takes imagination to think about it. It takes patience to achieve. It takes God to make it happens.
Notice the text does not say, transform yourself. It does not say fix yourself. It does not say get yourself right.
It does say, “be transformed” (NIV). It does say “let God transform you into a new person” (NLV).
That is part of what makes it so hard, knowing we must depend on God to do it. Part of the reason we may get so frustrated with the transformation process is that the harder we try to make it happen, the less it seems to happen. We cannot make the transformation happen.
Our part is to accept God’s mercies, give our whole selves to Him, and allow Him to transform us by renewing our minds. We let Him change. We submit to His changes. We trust Him to change us as He sees appropriate.
We must understand that the transformation process is not always pleasant. Being transformed can be unpleasant. There may be times of silence, confusion, questioning, and pain.
As we are being transformed we look for progress. Are we becoming more “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29)? Are we sounding more and more like Jesus when we talk? Are we responding more and more like Jesus to people in our circle of influence? Are we experiencing the peace and contentment that comes from submitting our wills to God?
When we endure. When we allow God to transform us we long for and rejoice in that moment when we realize the transformation has taken place. For the caterpillar it happens when he exits from his cocoon as a beautiful butterfly. For the follower of Jesus it happens when she comes out of the waters of baptism. It happens when he faces a temptation and comes away victorious. It happens when we find people are coming to us for spiritual advice.
It happens because we allow God, who knows how He made us, and knows how He has designed us, and reveals to us what we can be.
Is it time you surrendered to God and allowed Him to transform you? Give up trying to make it happen through your own efforts. Be transformed.
Tom
© Copyright 2013 Tom Norvell. All rights reserved.