Skip to main content

Culture, Romans 12:2

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 (NLT) There are two verses in the Bible that are written by the same author but seem to send opposite messages: 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them” (NIV). That’s pretty clear! But John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world . . .” (NIV). That looks like a big contradiction right there. “The world” is used two ways in these verses. The first verse refers to the world’s value system, and the second refers to the world’s people. Followers of Jesus are to love people, no matter what choices they make. On the other hand, we are to hate the world’s value system, including things like status, selfishness, and sexual immorality. The problem is that we often get it reversed. We love the value system and hate the people. Christians do this all the time. Instead of being different, we’re often just as materialistic and hedonistic as the culture we live in. But that’s backwards from how God calls us to live. For the rest of your life, you’ll face great pressure to conform to the culture. This was Israel’s biggest problem for thousands of years. They wanted to be like other nations. Yet God gave them all kinds of moral, civil, and ceremonial laws to make them different on purpose. God has done the same for you and me. We don’t live under Old Testament Law, but God has told us exactly how we should live and how to get the wisdom and power to stand out in this world: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT). One reason you may not know what God wants you to do in life is because you may be too assimilated to your culture. Often this happens without you realizing it. But you can’t think like the world and think like God thinks. You have to make a choice. The problem with following culture is that it’s all temporary. You need to follow something that is eternal: God’s Word.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A TEACHER’S TRIBUTE TO STUDENTS

Teaching is a passion, and my experience as a teacher has been beautiful, emotional and fulfilling. Over the years, I’ve watched the student – teacher equation evolve: From Guru, as all-knowing to Guru as friend and equal, as someone who doesn’t always know the best. Today’s teacher and the learner are partners in the process of teaching and learning. We inspire, motivate and learn from each other; if I don’t know, I can admit it to my students. The teacher is only a facilitator; one who will help the student grow, become a self-learner. The teacher is only one of many sources. Not infrequently, there is a role reversal. With children being so tech-savy, often I am the student and they are my teachers. Has teaching changes the way I think ? Yes, most certainly. My students have shown me how to manage time. I marvel at how deftly they juggle sports, academics, dance, and theatre, for instance. I have learnt how to accept failure as I see my students taking success and failure with equan...
16 comments
Read more

What Causes Conflict, Colossians 3:13

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV) You probably don’t like conflict. Most people try to avoid it as much as possible! But conflict is inevitable in life—because no one is perfect. But if you want to build a better future and pursue your purpose, God calls you to “bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone” (Colossians 3:13 NIV). Before you can learn healthy ways to respond to conflict, you need to know the common causes of conflict. In Nehemiah 5, you find four common causes: 1. Unmet basic needs. Unmet needs can be physical, emotional, relational, or financial. In Nehemiah’s time, it was a physical need: People were hungry. They were working to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem but encountered a famine. The people said, “We have such large families. We need more food to survive” (Nehemiah 5:2 NLT). 2. Falling behind. When you feel like you’re not making any prog...
Post a Comment
Read more

GOD'S TIMING, Matthew 26:39-42. 27:45-46

Matthew 26:39-42. 27:45-46 "My God , my God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46. Jesus agonized for hours in prayer and pleading, "Let this cup pass from Me ". But the Father's answer was "No ". To provide salvation, God had to send Jesus to die on the cross. Even though Jesus felt as if His Father had forsaken Him, He prayed intensely and passionately because He trusted that God was listening. When we pray, we may not see how God is working or understand how He will bring good through it all. So we have to trust Him. We relinquish our rights and let God do what is best.
Post a Comment
Read more