Romans 12



My Dad sends me the verse of the day from the Bible App every morning and the past two days' verses really stood out to me.

Today's verse came from Romans 12:2 which states: 
'Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.'

Just about everyone living on this Earth can relate to that verse, believer or non-believer. Everyone wants what the next person has or dress better than that lady you saw at the mall. I'm going to admit, I think that way a lot. I feel like that outfit I pinned on Pinterest, if I were to go buy that outfit, I'd look so much more prettier. Yes, maybe, but prettier to who? Me or the person looking at me. I feel beautiful wearing sweats because I know who I am on the inside. I have Jesus and that's all that matters. 
It shouldn't matter what others think of you. I struggled so much with making sure I was satisfying everyone so that they would like me more and appreciate me. I eventually realized, 'Who am I living for? Myself or God?' If I were living for God it should matter if I get other peoples' approval. 
Ok, the point I'm trying to get to is that me, and we as Christians need to understand the Godly way to live. In Romans 12 I feel like it sums all of that up in 21 verses. Let me break it down. :)

First let start off with us, as an individual. Our bodies are a living sacrifice, our body's are a temple of the Holy Spirit! Which means why should we do anything to harm it or show it off. I look at that verse as, we should take care of our body like we would care for Jesus? Sounds silly but isn't it true though?
Verse 2 was were all of this is coming from. Don't live for the world, rather for God. That's our ultimate goal! 
'Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.'
God is the only judge and we all need to be reminded of that. Period. 

The Word starts to go more into depth when it starts talking about 'Christians are one body'. The members are the individuals who have their own talents/gifts that we can use to show our faith in The Holy Spirit. We  also show non-believer God's love, grace and work. It's like the Church is the body and we believers are the arms, legs, hands and feet; with that we need to grasp non-believers and show them the way through what we are good at. Certain people are good at singing; them worshiping The Lord at church can help some one dramatically and open their hearts through the words that person is singing. Some one can be good with kids and through that they can lead children to Christ in a way children can understand. There are a lot of different gifts. 
I feel like I have a gift of giving. I would love to give people so much, if I had the resources to, but for now I can give love, advice and comfort. Through that I can show God's love and mercy as well. 

So what makes a Christian a true Christian?  
Verses 9-18 told me:
1) Keep from evil
2) Love genuinely 
3) Hold fast what is good
4) Constantly pray!
5) Bless those who do wrong to you 
    -Which has been a huge blessing to me. I have been in situations where I felt like people should have treated me better and of course with my mind set before I started to trust in Christ more, I tried to make them appreciate me. Over the past couple of months I have learned that I need to love them, love them the way I would like them to love me. Showing love toward some one who might be doing wrong to you, will show God's love. With that, they might start to wonder, 'What's different about them, that they still love me?' 
6) Do not seek revenge
7) LIVE PEACEABLY WITH ALL 
  
The passage ends with a verse that sums up the whole chapter: 

To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 
Romans 12:20, 21

I have learned in this chapter how to live! 
What did you learn?

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