"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.” (Romans 12:2)
Nonconformist - a person who does not live and think according to accepted customs and standards.
With this world heading on a downward slope, is it prudent or wise to strap yourself to the mast of a sinking ship? This world as we know it will not survive; only those who have accepted God’s gracious gift of forgiveness and allowed His Holy Spirit to alter their lifestyle will be ushered into His Kingdom. I add the second part to the equation because to simply accept Christ’s forgiveness and not allow it to change your life from the inside out will not keep you from wallowing in the mud again. We are not to live according this world’s accepted customs and standards, for they fly in the face of all that God stands for. We are to be nonconformists and allow a spiritual transformation to occur in our hearts and minds. Paul refers to it as a “renewing of your mind”. How else would we ever be able to know what God’s will for us is? We must read scripture to know what God says is right and wrong. The world has a new standard that is being altered each and every day. God’s standard is the one true standard that never changes. We need consistency in our lives and God is the only one who can provide that for us. He loves us and cares for us and wants to meet our every need, but we are constantly trying to go our own way. The world is calling. Those who march to the beat of God’s particular drumbeat are ridiculed and despised. It’s the ‘Jesus’ factor that causes this. Buddhists and Hindus are not treated in this manner. Those who seek their own way through their own existential* system of beliefs are not ridiculed, but rather praised for being in tune with their inner being. To truly know God and His will, we must move as close to Him as humanly possible through time spent with Him (James 4:8). Talking to God (prayer), listening to songs with eternal meaning, buddying up with a fellow believer of like gender for accountability, becoming a part of a local fellowship are all ways to ward off worldly influences. Be open to the instruction of God and learn what His good, pleasing and perfect will is for you.
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
*The modern system of belief made famous by Jean Paul Sartre in the 1940s in which the world has no meaning and each person is alone and completely responsible for their own actions, by which they make their own character. [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us]
