It is commonly known that we tend to become like those we associate a lot with. When we were children growing up, our parents might have been careful about who they allowed or encouraged us to associate with. They knew that our playmates would influence us for good or for bad the more we were around them. If they used nasty language, tended to tell lies, or liked to swipe things from stores, we might be inclined to start doing the same. This type of influence continues on even into adulthood. Our choice of friends and associates can easily guide and sway our behavior, thoughts, and actions. In the opening verses of the 12th chapter of Romans, Paul instructs the early Christians with whom we should be conforming our life after. Let’s take a look at these verses.
Throughout the Old Testament, people brought animals to the Temple for a sacrifice to God, often for a sin offering. After Jesus’ death on the cross in atonement for our sins, we no longer need to bring animal sacrifices to God. However, as we read in verse 1 of our passage, Paul tells us we should give our lives to the Lord as a living sacrifice. How do we do this? We need to say to our Savior, “I trust You. Whatever You want me to do, I am willing.” We do not need to fear giving ourselves to God, as He will never call on us to do something for which He has not already equipped us. We can trust the Lord with our lives, and abandon ourselves to Him.
Many people accept Jesus as their Savior, but then do not live lives that honor Him. We need to lay our lives on the altar before God to be used to bring glory to Him. We give ourselves as a living sacrifice, daily laying aside our own desires to follow Jesus. True worship involves offering our whole self to God. He wants every part of our life surrendered to Him, not just an hour or two on Sunday mornings.
As Paul continues in our passage, we are warned against conforming our life and thoughts to that of the world, but instead to transform and renew our mind to the will of God (vs. 2). Here is where, as Christians, we need to be careful about what we feed our mind with. Everything we watch, what we read, what we listen to, and who we associate with feeds our mind and influences us for good or bad. Believers in the Lord Jesus should stop allowing unbelievers and the world to shape us into their mould. The term “this world” in our verse refers to the world’s system of beliefs and values, which forms the moral atmosphere of the world, and is dominated by Satan. A renewed mind is saturated and controlled by God’s Word.
As a believer, it is incompatible with our true identity to allow the world to influence us into the old behaviors we had before we were saved. We have been freed from those to be a fruitful, Spirit-filled child of God. Thus we should make our lifestyle consistent with who we are in Christ.
To renew our minds, we have to replace old, erroneous thought patterns with the truth we find in God’s Word. We set ourselves apart by renewing our minds with the Scriptures. It will cleanse our minds from the filth of this world, removing everything ungodly that bombards us every day. We need to resist being poured into the mould of the world’s present thinking, its value system and conduct. This will happen as we commit ourselves to obeying God and His Word. Our minds will be renewed as we study the Scriptures. Our hearts are changed as we submit to God, giving ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice.
This is the lifestyle that the Lord wishes for His children, one where we give ourselves completely to His control. Allow God, His Word, and association with other serious Christians to influence us, rather than having a close association with this world system.
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