Choosing a dream: ‘The Dream of God’ or ‘The dream of the world’?
This is the fourth of five blogs intended to help you to DISCOVER YOURSELF IN GOD. Press this link if you wish to start reading from the first blog.
As Zacchaeus, after the encounter with Christ, conformed one’s life with the teachings of Christ— “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much” (Luke 19:8)—the same happens in the encounter with Christ. The encounter with Christ transforms the person’s mind to Christ.
A biblical passage that synthesises well the process of conformation and transformation, is Romans 12:2 in which Saint Paul exhorts, “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).
In this exhortation,
there is an order to be obeyed and consists of being “transformed by the renewing of your minds,”
an aim to be reached, “discern what is the will of God,” and
a great enemy for this renewing process, “do not be conformed to this world.”
An order to be obeyed
The order to “be transformed by the renewing of your minds,” elicits two issues on the act of conformation: the transformation and the renewal of the mind.
The words “be transformed” indicate that the conformation is not the Christians’ own doing but the work of the Holy Spirit, they nevertheless have a real responsibility in the matter—to let themselves be transformed, to respond to the guidance of God’s Spirit.
The conformation to Christ is not the Christians’ own doing but the work of the Holy Spirit
An aim to be reached: “discern what is the will of God”
On the other hand, the words “by the renewing of your minds,” indicate that the person has to take an action to change one’s thinking, heart dispositions, judgments, mindset, and the like, according to the alternative model to the world, which is Christ.
The aim to be reached with the conformation with Christ is to “discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
This aim is also the aim of any discernment, because as Christ did the will of the Father in everything, his follower has to do the same.
The great enemy
The great enemy to this renewing process is the “conformation to this world.”
With this phase, Paul urges the believer not to be moulded/shaped (conformed) by the mentality of this world, that is: the social groups, cultural norms, institutions, and traditions that surround the individual.
More than this, the present imperative in which the text is written, indicates that personal responsibility. That is, the individual can accept or resist such power structures.
not to be shaped by the mentality of this world
The alternative model
The alternative model for transformed living is not specified here, but that Christ was both the pattern and source of this renewal and transformation is clear enough and had been indicated with sufficient clarity in chapters 6–8 of this same letter.
Thus, as the present indicative, indicates a human responsibility to resist the mentality of the world; consequently, it also indicates a responsibility to conform (to be moulded and shaped) by the words and deeds of Christ: the alternative model to the world.
This was the fourth of 5 blogs intended to help you to DISCOVER YOURSELF IN GOD.
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- how to overcome one’s past, negative memories, dependencies and sins
- how to stay always in a growth process
- how to discern between the Human, Divine, and Diabolical Spirits
- how to overcome desolations
- how to consider every moment as an opportunity to glorify God
- how to maintain oneself always in a state of conversion
- how to develop one’s identity as a real child of God
- how to allow yourself to be guided by the Holy Spirit
- how to follow and imitate Christ
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