“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of his mind.”
Romans 12:2
This is a verse that I have always been drawn to due to the fact that it is a constant battle we all face. This is because conforming to the world is always the easier thing to do in every situation. However, like I have said before, just because it is easy does not make it right. Once Adam and Eve ate the apple, our world became a fallen world separated from our Father in heaven. Since then, part of our nature is to conform and to constantly be thinking of ourselves. We were born to have the desire to do things that please ourselves. The trouble with this thinking is that it is not in alignment with Christianity and doesn’t allow us to live as Jesus lived, which is a constant goal as a Christian.
God calls us to live a transformed life, and Josh Weaton from the movie God’s Not Dead perfectly exhibits what Paul means by this verse in Romans.
The movie God’s Not Dead came out a few months ago, and though it may not have been an Oscar winning movie, the message made the movie worth seeing. Josh Weaton is a faithful, Christian boy that is starting his freshman year of college. He has a class taught by an atheist, whom believes that there cannot be a God due to the evil circumstances that have happened in his life. On the first day of class, the teacher wants the whole class to be in agreement that GOD IS DEAD, so he has each student sign a piece of paper admitting they believe that to be true. Without hesitation the whole class follows suit, except for Josh Weaton, who decides his God is worth standing up for.
Every other student in the classroom, regardless of what he or she believes, conforms their beliefs to that of the teacher’s. Most likely the students wanted to pass the class and succeed in college, which is what we all want to some degree. However, this verse calls us to look not at OUR SUCCESS but the SUCCESS of the KINGDOM OF GOD. Just as Josh did…
we must transform and RENEW our mindsets to think far beyond what we want.
Let this be a reminder to continuously put our SELFLESS GOD before our own successes and desires.
Katie Garrett. Nashville Native. Critical Care Nurse. Belmont University Alum. DNP Student. Enneagram 2w3. Reader. Writer. Starbucks Lover. Jesus makes my heart happy. Daughter. Sister. Sister in Law. Cousin. Niece. Forever indebted to Jesus Christ.
