If you've been in church for some years, you start to learn certain phrases and learn favorite scripture used during a sermon or teaching. There are several for me that I tend to refer to a lot when sharing with someone.
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. Romans 12:2 KJV
Most of the time when I've heard someone share on this verse, they are referring to someone that is struggling with an addiction, a temptation, or an area in their life where they are struggling with making better choices for their life but keep going back to their old way of life. It seems many times preachers talk about those who go back to their old habits and ways of thinking, because they don't trust the Lord to deliver them from drugs, pornography, or any type of lifestyle that is hard to move away from.
But, what if? Here I go again with my wonderings. What if, there's more to what this verse is talking about when it states, what if there is a literal meaning to taking the words to heart? What if there's another way of seeing this scripture when it talks about not conforming to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind?
What if when I look at not conforming, I consider what it means to conform? If I look at what it means to conform, it means to comply with rules, standards or laws. It means to behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards. Some words that are synonymous to conform are to obey, follow, keep to, hold to, stick to, accept and go along with. In other words, if I am to apply this verse to my life, I am choosing not to comply with the rules, standards and laws everyone else is complying with. I am choosing to do the opposite of conform. I do not conform to the pattern of this world.
And what is the pattern we are advised not to conform to? For me, I see patterns in an artistic way. Repetition of lines or shapes, or a design. Pattern can also be influence, form, mold, the regular and repeated way something is done. I like Webster's definition because it helps me to share what I believe is keeping many persons in a rut, unable to move forward in life, and just stuck where they are because they think the process of renewing their mind only pertains to those lost in addiction or broken in their traumatic state. I am not a doctor, or have a degree to back up my thoughts, but I believe words and life experiences give me the diploma to write what I think. If you disagree, it's okay. I am going to write it anyway.
So, if I break it down, it might sound like this.
When it comes to the constant, the regular and repeated ways of doing life, don't obey the rules, and standards of this world.
You see, the pattern of this world is to keep you and me occupied in our thoughts, like a huge Ferris wheel that we get on but can never get off, because it never stops going around and around. Sort of like a pattern. Square, star, square, star, and what comes next? Square. Life is the same if we keep our focus on the patterns of this world. Stress, trauma, stress, trauma, stress. Disappointment, betrayal, pain, disappointment, betrayal, pain, etc. The pattern keeps you thinking about what comes next and we remain with the same thoughts, the same stress and the hurts never go away. We keep our heart and our mind on what happened, on how it happened, how painful it was or is, and we stay there in that thought process, over and over without end.
My mom shared something today about what she was reading. She shared how the devil shows up and tells Jesus, "If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Matthew 4:3. We know Jesus answered. But, humor me a bit here. What if Jesus would have chosen to go along with the pattern of this world. I wonder if he would have started questioning, "Oh my goodness! Wait! Am I really the son of God? What if I try to turn the stones to bread and they turn to serpents?" No. Jesus knew who He was and is. Jesus knew why He had chosen to come to this world. He was King on a mission and no wanna be tempter was going to confuse Him. Jesus answered "It is written- "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Jesus didn't play around with words and stay wondering on "If you are" and he certainly didn't shake at the devil's weak attempt to get the Lord to obey him when he said, "tell". See, no one tells Jesus what to do. It was not going to happen. His eyes never strayed from his reason and purpose, even when he experienced humanity's exhaustion, hunger, thirst, and weakness. He remained in control and with all of us in His mind. So what does this have to do with the first verse I was talking about?
The Word.
When you and I know understand what we have in knowing the worth and the power of God's Word, we are not easily moved to follow along like robots the ways or the pattern of this world. We experience the difficulties of life but we know that if we are transformed by the renewing of our mind, we do not stay stuck in that place of constantly remembering the past and all the heartaches connected to every painful experience.
We are transformed when we know that God's Word is readily available to provide for us. He transforms us in our thoughts so that we are not like clothes that are hung in the closet, never used, and one day given or thrown away. Your life has a purpose even when life has not been what you imagined. Even when you made a poor choice that didn't get you what you wanted, God still wants to work in your life, in your thoughts, and in your memory.
Do not linger in yesterday. Do not park your heart on the highway of a pattern that never changes and you never move forward into a new joyous life. There is life after every difficult situation you have come through. God has a new story. God has a new song for you. God has a new way of seeing life, but you are going to have to believe His Word. You will need to be transformed by the renewing of your mind with God's Word, not the pattern or the laws of this world that tell you to self destruct, self medicate, or stay in depression, or get even. No! God has a life full of purpose.
I think of the woman at the well. You know her. She went into a debate with Jesus about beliefs and ideas and Jesus cut to the chase and challenged her in her heart. He didn't want her to go to what she thought she knew. He tugged at her heart. He offered water that no one else could offer and deliver because He is the Life Giving Water Source. You know her story. She ran from the scene and she went and told everyone she met, "Come and see a man that told me everything I ever did!" She led the crowds to the Messiah and she stood with them to receive, to listen.
This woman did not go back to obeying the rules of this world and start going over and over about her past. Jesus had already dealt with her past, face to face. This woman did not go from person to person repeating the same story over and over. Jesus had seen the pattern of her life and he changed the design of her pattern. He gave her a new story. She went from perhaps abused, mistreated, unloved, abused, mistreated, unloved, to acknowledged, love, worthy, acknowledged, love, worthy. The woman at the well did not go back to her home to think about her loss, her past failures, and what people thought about her. No. She allowed Jesus' love to renew her mind and her heart. She chose to abandon her complaints and her thirst for more in the hands of the one that said, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God."
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| Photo from Kobo.com |
Yes! I know. This is not for you because you have been a Christian, oh yeah, I know, your mom gave birth to you on the third row, in the front of the church as they sang. You have always been a born again believer so this renewing of your mind just does not pertain to you. Oh, but it does. If you find yourself wallowing in your past, remembering without end what you have gone through, your losses, the disappointments, and how this person owes you and that person should pay for what you went through, then maybe, hey, just maybe, you need to change the pattern of your thinking. Maybe the advice this world has offered and given you so far just has not worked. Maybe you need to believe that God's word is enough, more than a piece of bread. Maybe you are ready to realize that your survival and your sanity, your peace of mind and your ability to truly live again falls on your ability to surrender your life to the Lord and let Him place His mighty hand, His loving hand on your forehead and kiss away all the boo-boos. Our Heavenly Father is in the business of kissing our hurts away. He holds us when we cannot stop hurting because of what someone we once loved did to us. God holds us when we cannot forget and we cannot forgive. God embraces us with powerful arms when life has punched, kicked, and smacked us around more than a Karate class.
I love the book of Isaiah. I love where it says:
"Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past." Isaiah 43:18.
The pattern of this world is to keep you going around and around and you never escape the circle of thoughts, the idea that you failed, the lie that you are not enough or unworthy of love. God's Word invited you and me to get off the bandwagon that follows everyone else and believe God's word for what He promises.
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
God is doing something new. You will have to stop conforming to the pattern of this world. It is not going to lift you up. Only God can change your confusion to peace and your broken heart to restored.
When we are transformed in our thought process, in what we choose to hold on to, to believe, to keep repeating or not repeating, then we will know and be able to walk in God's will. It will get a little easier. We will understand His ways. We will understand He has a better plan for us. Perhaps this has been the Lord's plan all along.
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