Conform Transform

Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:1-2

What in the world does this mean? “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” To me, the world is telling a lot of teens what it means to be a teenager. It means you can be wild and irresponsible, and your excuse? “Well, I’m just being a teen. I have to get it out of my system before I’m a responsible adult.”

Why is this the accepted pattern for teens? Why does the world expect you to be wild and irresponsible? It’s like the culture doesn’t really expect anything from you. This pattern is somewhat discouraging to the teens that want to change the world.

What if you want to use your teen years not to get something out of your system, but to impact others living in the world around you? How do you live by a different pattern other than the hopeless expectation that you are supposed to party your teen years away?

Be TRANSFORMED. You don’t have to conform, but be transformed. You can transform other people’s expectation by living against the pattern. You can live like an uncommon teenager. You can change the lives of those around you and positively impact your community for Christ. You can feed the homeless, be a mentor to an elementary student, and take care of an elderly person’s yard on the weekend. You can change the world! You can befriend the biggest hooch in your school, eat lunch with her everyday, and love her to pieces. You can give up the cool clothes and donate your money to sponsor an orphan Africa. You can bring people to awareness about the global AIDS crises. You can love the homosexual kid at work who has been betrayed and judged by others. You can raise money for missionaries at your church. You can go on a mission trip!

To be transformed you have to renew your mind. Otherwise, it’s way too easy to fall back and conform to how others think you should act. To renew your mind, you must study and live out the instructions given for life found in the Bible (this is God’s love letter to you).

Here are some verses to consider how studying God’s instruction manual for life can give strength in faith and purity and how it teaches the reader to be holy:

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17

“How can a young [woman] keep [her] way pure? By living according to your word.” Psalm 119:9

“He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God.” Revelation 19:13

“Sanctify (cleanse or make holy) them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

Did you know that the Greek word for “living” in Psalm 119:9 is samar? It means to keep, guard, preserve, protect, watch, retain, observe, pay careful attention to, revere, and lying in wait to ambush someone. The last meaning sounds really random. Think about it, though, in general the world’s expectation for teens is that teenagers are party animals and sex-crazed, and these messages are bombarding you through different avenues: music, TV, friends, movies, some parents and more. I believe you have to keep watch of what the world is telling you and soak up God’s truth, so you can destroy/ambush the lies. If you believe the lies, then what hope do you have and why would you want to be transformed?

“Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (Romans 12:2, The Message)

Links to help change the world:
To help with the global aids effort, http://www.theonecampaign.org/

To help sponsor an orphan, http://www.compassion.com/Sponsor/default.htm

To help build homes for others, http://www.habitat.org/

To find out about student mission trips, click here

To find out more about missions, click here

To find out how to volunteer in your community, click here

Written by: Jackie Kendall
Author of Lady in Waiting, Say Goodbye to Shame, and The Mentoring Mom http://www.jackiekendall.com