Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.- Romans 12:2
It can be hard to discern the will of God. What is good, what is acceptable, what is perfect, is not obvious. Sometimes we get that. We may be coming to a difficult decision and not know what path to take, or how the decision might be decided. Other times though we forget that. We act as if what is good, acceptable, and perfect is obvious. That can lead to a lot of self-righteousness, especially when other people cannot see as clearly as we can.
But Paul tells us that we are not to be conformed to this world. After all, this world is falling away (1 Cor. 7:31). We need to have our minds transformed. Our new minds, then, can discern the will of God. These Spirit-filled minds are given the mind of Christ, “so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” (1 Cor. 2:12) Without transformed minds, we may be conformed to a world passing away. We would not know the will of God. We would only know distortions. A distorted good, a distorted perfection.
How then might we renew our minds? We renew our minds by attending to the Spirit’s presence. We renew our minds in worship. The Spirit is surely present in our worship together. We renew our minds in prayer. We renew our minds as we attend to the Scriptures, let them seep in, and begin to see the world in a new way. But we also renew our minds when we “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” Jesus says “whatever you do for the least of these, my brothers, you do also for me.” (Matt. 25:40) We also renew our minds in service.
This world is full of pride, vanity, and boasting. That is what’s fading away. But the renewed mind, the mind of Christ, walks the way of the Cross. We seek what’s good for others, not just ourselves. We give generously, not hoarding for ourselves. We strike up strange friendships, not hiding ourselves away. We, in short, live as Jesus lived. We conform our minds to his mind. We walk the path of our crucified and risen Lord.