This series is a four-part reflection on how we can experience transformation, and why do we need it as Christians.
When it comes to personal transformation though, you have to understand that it affects four levels of who you are: mind, heart, soul, and body.
Those four levels are what we cover in this four-part series reflection.
Watch the introduction to the series below.
For the sake of our reflection today, let’s read Romans 12:1-2,
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. NIV.
According to the scripture above, I would say that there are two steps that can allow us to experience personal transformation.
Personal transformation comes out of an act of spiritual worship
Look at Romans 12 focusing on verse one,
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.
This verse represents step one, also clearly implying that transformation comes from a place of worship.
And, how should we worship?
Paul talks of true and proper worship when we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (see verse above).
[bctt tweet=”True and proper worship doesn’t have to do with space and time. It has to do with you and God, no matter where you may be or what situation, in which you may find yourself. ” username=”emmanuelnaweji”]
Jesus said it to the Samaritan woman. Read the story in John 4:1-26.
The woman was struggling with what worship should look like until when Jesus said that true and spiritual worship does not have to do with Jacob’s mountain or Jerusalem (both places). Read John 4:21,
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Worship is what you do with every single day of your life. It is what you do with who you are and what you have on a daily basis. It is the choice you make to offer your whole self (who you are and what you have) to God as a living sacrifice.
Personal transformation comes out of the renewing of the mind
Choosing to offer your whole self as a living sacrifice on a daily basis is what sets you up for the second step.
Read Romans 12:2,
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.
The above verse describes the second step: the renewing of the mind.
The beginning of the verse, however, states that there is a choice to make: not to conform to the pattern of this world.
The power for not conforming to the pattern of the world comes out of our surrender to God. See the first step.
An act of spiritual worship empowers you to resist the temptations to give in to anything that isn’t pleasing to God.
[bctt tweet=”So often, we choose to work on our minds, and skip the importance of complete surrender to God and God’s Word as where we should start. That makes the rest of the process (personal transformation) so hard, as a result. ” username=”emmanuelnaweji”]
No wonder why many Church goers struggle with living by God’s word!
Skipping the importance of complete surrender to God makes us weak to choose “not to” conform to the pattern of this world. It also takes away the ability to see things clearly.
In other words, we are so unable to know what God’s will is for each one of us, as well as for us all as a society. We can’t even agree on what God’s Word says regarding current issues.
When we all start with step one, on the other hand, which is complete surrender to God through an act of spiritual worship we do on a daily basis, we will have control of what’s going on in our mind. As a result, we will renew our minds, which sets us up for personal transformation.
Bringing it together
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, King James Bible). Our perception of self, others, and our surroundings closely depend on what we allow in our minds. When we make every single day of our lives an opportunity to surrender our whole selves to Christ, our perception also changes. We eventually learn how to humble ourselves before God and serve God and the people in your life.