Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the terms of the world around you but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
I have always felt that I was meant to write, but every time I tried to start, it never felt right. Over time, I started to realize that it didn't feel right because I was writing a lie. I was writing the version that made sense in this world in hopes that other people would understand and accept me, but my life is not about me.
Since I was a child, the one Bible verse I always remembered was Romans 12:2: "Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
It was the anchor sinking me as a child and holding me steady as an adult. However, God will always take His Word and breathe new life and meaning into it if we continue to surrender ourselves to hear Him. The meaning of this verse continues to evolve as God carries out His good work in me.
I have read books about how to live a godly life
and there are many interpretations of the Bible in the world and differing views among people, but they all left me still searching for God. I always thought there was something wrong with me and that I wasn’t a Christian or deserving of God’s love and grace.
In time, God showed me that maybe we’ve lost the ancient path that could guide us forward. How do we know God the way Abraham and Moses knew Him? Jesus promised us the same relationship with God that He had.
“This is what the LORD says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’” - Jeremiah 6:16-20 New International Version (NIV)
Reflection
Everything humanity searches for in the reflection of others can be found in the reflection of themselves and all creation. Love is eternal and is the only thing that creates and produces the things we so desperately seek and destroy. Out of love the fabric of all things is weaved and what it creates is everlasting; and yet we cling to the things destined to perish.
Love creates unity and is free for all, but this world produces division. We accumulate knowledge but love freely shares wisdom. We hunger for food but the product of love will sustain us. We cry out for self but love pours out for others. We search for love and leave others broken, but true love empowers everyone. This world has created a definition of love of things and left everyone still searching.
If we believed as much in the spirit as we do in objects we regard as spiritual and valued our spirit as much as a price tag, then the heavens would be revealed within us all. If we loved selflessly without ego, we wouldn't be searching for love from another, but sharing it freely without attachment. Has this not been put in the heart of all creation and yet we have limited ourselves to the mind.
The sacrifice of our lives can not be to only obtain and seek for ourselves, but to rise up as a hope and example for all. If we are all divinely created and protected, then what we do for self should be for all. Is this not the time to try something different. Is it not the time to accept grace and give as freely as we have been given to. We may not change the world, but we can continue to change the world around us.
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- "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart." – Proverbs 27:19
Transform...
I spent my life looking for something that was within me, but everything that was supposed to point me there was directing me elsewhere.
Not conforming to everything this world was telling me and instead being transformed by the renewing my mind in spirit was life-changing.
Romans 12:2, for me, is about sharing the love I found in pursuing this and how it continues to shatter everything I was taught about God or see reflected in this world in His name.
The freedom peace, and love I found within continue to open my heart to see the beauty all around that I no longer have to fight for, but can simply be
