May 9, 2023: Be Transformed!

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2, ESV)

The plea of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:2 is that we would not look like the world anymore, having obtained the grace of God by faith. His appeal is that the renewing of our minds, with the Word of God, would transform us. The word transform comes from a Greek word: to form a new. The English word 'metamorphosis' best describes it. It is like the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The goal is that we look more like God, sound more like God, and act more like God.

The way this happens is by renewing our minds with God's Word. The renewing of the mind is so necessary! You can get a new heart in Christ but still have the same old unbeliefs. Steve Backland says it best, ”We get saved by believing in Jesus, but we get freed by believing like Jesus!" Old ways of thinking keep us from becoming all that God desires us to become. Wrong thinking keeps us enslaved to the lies we believe. It is the lies we believe that keep us in bondage. But, it is through knowing the truth that we are set free. The belief in a lie got Adam and Eve in trouble. Yet, overcoming a lie with truth gave Jesus the victory in the wilderness. So be transformed by the truth!