Be Transformed

Daily Reading: Exodus 34, Psalm 84, Romans 12, Proverbs 25

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;  if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12

So good.

I am not sure I could picture a more powerful and concise summary of what it looks like to live out your faith in Jesus than in Romans 12.

Throughout my life I have never spent as much time as I would like committing scripture to memory. There are lots of verses I naturally learned over time, simply because they spoke to me and were some of my favorites. 

Romans 12 seems worth learning word for word and internalizing as a foundational part of our operating systems as Christians.

In April I am going to memorize Romans 12.

I would also like to instill this desire in my family as well, so I am going to gamify it and offer a reward to any of my kids that can memorize Romans 12 in April as well.

In April, I want us to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

I would encourage you to scroll back up and read Romans 12 again. It is not the longest book in the Bible, but every word carries so much weight.

In the crazy world that we live in today, I cannot think of anything more important than a group of Christians living out each and every instruction Paul gives us today, so that collectively we can:

“…not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Daily Reflection & Dialogue

Which part of Romans 12 spoke most directly to you today?