“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 12:2)
There is for the Christian one important decision concerning how they will live their life: to be conformed to this world or to be transformed by the renewing of their mind. All other decisions are dependent upon this one. To be conformed to this world is by far the easier of the two, but it comes at a great cost. For the child of God will never experience the joy and peace that the Lord has provided if they continue to walk as the rest of the world does. Nor will they be able to fulfill God’s will for their life if they choose to remain conformed to the world.
To be transformed is a choice that we can make, otherwise the Scripture would not instruct us to do so. Yet transformation is not accomplished through our own willpower or good intentions, no, it can only be achieved as the Holy Spirit works in us, conforming us not to the world but to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). A renewed mind is a mind which sees things as God sees them and thinks thoughts in line with the way God thinks. It is the same washing and regeneration in the mind that was performed upon our spirits by the Holy Spirit when we first came to faith in Christ (cf. Titus 3:5).
Even so, this transformation is not the product of our simply waiting for God to change us. We participate in the process by spending time with the Lord in prayer and through the study of His Word. Ultimately, our mind is renewed as we delve into the Bible and let the Holy Spirit speak to us.
[Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) © The Lockman Foundation and are used by permission.]
