There are three word pictures in Romans 12:2 that are very helpful to me when I ponder the passage. In my experience, focusing on them creates a source for fruitful meditation. This is how the verse reads in the New American Standard Bible: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” I’d like to focus on the words conformed, transformed, and renewing.
The word conformed means to fashion in the same way—being made from the same mold, cut from the same pattern. I’m not a great seamstress, but I have done enough sewing to know that you can get a wide variety of looks from the same pattern by changing fabrics and using different finishing touches. Within all that variety there will, however, continue to be a certain sameness because the pattern is unchanged. In spite of the great variety of sizes, shapes, complexions, and personalities that people come in, being shaped by the world will leave a certain sameness to us—one that is not pleasing to God. It is worth asking ourselves some questions. Do I recognize where I’m cut from the same pattern as the world? Do I see ways God has made alterations to the pattern? Am I willing to let God (metaphorically) rip out some seams in order to make further alterations?
The word transformed used in this verse is the same word that is translated as transfiguration when it talks about Jesus’ skin and clothing becoming radiant. It is a word that expresses a real change. The Greek word looks like this: metamorphoo. When I saw it, my first thought was “metamorphosis,” and they are indeed related words. I found it worth thinking about the level of change that happens when a caterpillar becomes a moth or a butterfly. It’s not a matter of the caterpillar growing wings, but it really becomes something new—the old body is dissolved and a new body is restructured. Something is lost, but something is gained. Would the caterpillar be willing to form a cocoon/chrysalis if it knew what would happen while it was inside one? Am I willing for God to take me apart and put me back together in a new way? Am I willing to go through the loss of being a caterpillar in order to become a butterfly? (Will I believe a butterfly is on the other side of the process?)
Renewing our minds means renovating our minds. The architect with his plans and the contractor with his skills enter into renovating a home without any concern for the fact that some walls may come down, new boards may be nailed in, or new windows may be cut out while old ones are boarded over. But when it comes to renewing our minds, we are neither the architect nor the contractor. We are the house. We may not see or understand the architect’s plans. We may not understand the reasons the contractor removes some things and adds others. Maybe we don’t like some of the changes or the messiness of the work. It helps to have confidence that the final product will be worth it (i.e. trust the skills of the architect and the contractor). Of course all analogies have their limits. If a house is being renovated, it does not actively participate in the work being done. But we do. God cannot renew my mind with his word if I don’t spend time in his word. It is worthwhile to ask God where he wants to renovate and what scriptures he might want me to meditate on to help it happen. Truth is the building material for mind renewal.
We are told the transformation that comes from a renewed mind enables us to “prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Let’s take a quick look at some of these words, too.
- Prove: to test, discern, to approve (it is a word that connotes checking to see if something is worthy of being received or not)
- Good: benevolent, profitable, useful
- Acceptable: fully agreeable, well-pleasing
- Perfect: complete, adult (i.e. full grown), having reached the goal
I believe that those areas of my life that have been transformed by God’s word demonstrate that God’s word is worthy of being received—life lived God’s way is useful, well-pleasing, and accomplishes God’s goals.