Dont take your cues from the world

1[Rom 12:1-5 NASB] 1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 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.

 

1. You are a holy and living sacrifice that is acceptable to God. This is your worship.
   1. A holy and living sacrifice is continuously pleasing to God. How is this possible?
   2. [Rom 6:16 NLT] 16 Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.
   3. [1Sa 15:22 NLT] 22 But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

 

2. Don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind!!
   1. How do we know we are transformed :

Metamorphoō [Metamorphosis]- Change into another form, transform, transfigure

Webster Definition : a major change in the appearance of character of someone or something

Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation

Once you undergo metamorphosis, you can't go back

Metamorphosis is necessary for physical development in animals! Metamorphosis is a necessary part of development!

 

[Rom 13:14 NLT] 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

 

[Eze 36:26 NLT] 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

 

[2Co 5:17 NLT] 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

 

2. Take on the mind of Christ

[1Co 2:13-16 NASB] 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

 

3. … so that you may PROVE what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
   1. This is not to prove to those around you… this is to prove to YOU. IT is so that you will learn to know GOD's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect!
   2. When you are transformed, you no longer need anyone to convince you of the goodness of God and to constantly remind you to TRUST Him

[Eph 4:17-20 NLT] 17 With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that isn't what you learned about Christ.

[1Jo 2:15-17 NLT] 15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

[Rom 13:14 NLT] 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

[Rev 13:8 NLT] 8 And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made--the Book that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered.