Message title: Lord please change me
Text: Rom. 12: 2
Suppose you could change anything about yourself, where would you start? Lots of us would start on the outside. Would you be . . .
Skinnier?
Taller?
Shorter?
Better looking?
Would you change . . .
Your eyes?
Your hair?
Your teeth?
Your legs?
Your bulges?
If you could wave a magic wand and change your outward appearance, would it be a light touch-up or an extreme makeover? Would we even recognize you?
I think we all go through periods where we desperately want to change our outward appearance.
But as hard as it is to change on the outside, it seems infinitely harder to change on the inside. If there is anything we know about human nature, it is that people change slowly, if they change at all. Think about the struggles of your own life. What would you change about yourself on the inside if you could?
Would it be an impatient spirit?
Would it be a critical tongue?
Would it be envy of those around you?
Would it be a spirit of discontentment?
Would it be lingering resentment?
Would it be lust you can’t conquer?
Would it be financial mismanagement?
Would it be a guilty conscience?
Would it be an inability to work with others?
Would it be overbearing stubbornness?
Would it be a judgmental spirit?
Would it be a quick temper?
Would it be profound discouragement?
Would it be an inability to appreciate life?
Would it be an ungrateful spirit?
Would it be a disorganized life?
Would it be an inability to say no?
We all want to change something, but we don’t know how to do it and we don’t know where to begin. We all dream of being something different and better than the person we are today.
That brings me to my text, one of the better-known verses in the New Testament:
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2).
Let me quickly make this very important point - Most of us change very slowly, if we change at all. And few of us make any lasting changes except under pressure and as a result of personal pain. There is no growth without struggle. As the saying goes “No pain, no gain.”
Long-held habits can be changed, but it won’t happen overnight. Patterns of sin can be broken, but it will take more than a quick prayer at the end of a worship service. You can see significant growth in your spiritual life, but it won’t come without a cost. That is what Romans 12:2 is all about. It tells us that we can be transformed when our minds are renewed. How does that happen?
1) We must be transfigured on the inside.
Note the word “transfigured.” The Greek word for “transformed” in Romans 12:2 is related to the English word metamorphosis. It’s a gradual change on the inside that produces a total transformation on the outside. I used the word “transfigure” because this same Greek word is used for the transfiguration of Christ when the true glory of Christ began to shine through his humanity and “he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them” (Mark 9:2-3). The word means to be changed or transformed from one thing to another. Think of it this way. When Jesus was transfigured, he did not cease to be Jesus. He was still who he had been moments before, but for a brief time, the curtain was pulled back, so to speak, and James, Peter and John saw as much of the true divinity of Christ as any man can see and still live. In that moment they saw the “real Jesus,” the true Son of God from heaven. He did not cease to be a man, but his true identity was revealed to them as “true God of true God.”
When the apostle John said that “now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known” (1 John 3:2), he was talking about our future when we are with the Lord in heaven. But it is also true in this life. God is in the transformation business, and you can’t tell who will end where or what plans God has for you and me
tomorrow.
God is determined that we will all be like Jesus in the end. Romans 8:29 says that we are "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
All of us are works-in-progress. We’re not finished, not glorified, not perfected, not completed. We’re all “under construction.” If you’ve ever visited a construction site, you know that it is noisy and looks messy. While the hammering and sawing continues, it’s hard to imagine what the final result will be. But God never stops working on us because there is so much work that needs to be done.
*If you concentrate on your weakness, you will lose your confidence.
*If you concentrate on God’s faithfulness, you will grow in confidence.
What makes us think that God will ever finish the job? It is our knowledge of the fact that our God is not a quitter, He won’t quit half-way through a project. What God starts, he finishes. You can take that to the bank.
The apostle Paul here put the emphasis on the renewing of the mind.
How do we get the “renewed” mind Paul speaks of in Romans 12:2? My answer is actually simple though it is the work of a lifetime. Desire must be combined with discipline. Here’s a little equation that may help us:
T + HH + GE= SG; where T= Time, HH = Habits of Holiness, GE = Godly Encouragement and SG = Spiritual Growth
Time plus Habits of Holiness equals Spiritual Growth. The transformation of the mind takes time, and it takes a determination to develop those habits of holiness, supported by those around us who will offer us godly encouragement. You can see therefore that it is very important the people that surround you, the people that you hang out with.
If you seek to be transformed therefore you must learn to “choose your friends wisely” because you will become like your friends and your friends will become like you. The right friends make it easier for you to grow in the Lord and the wrong friends make it much harder.
Romans 12:2 teaches us about spiritual metamorphosis. God intends that we will slowly but surely be transformed into the image of Christ.
It will not happen by accident.
It does not happen overnight.
It cannot happen without the Holy Spirit.
It happens when we make a personal commitment.
It happens with the godly encouragement of other Christians.
It happens as we become what God made us to be.
It happens as we behold the glory of Jesus Christ.
None of us is there yet, we all are a work in progression, God is resolved to continue to work on us by chipping away what does not resemble Christ in us and gradually moulding us to conform to the image of Christ. On our path, we must cooperate with Him, by watching our habits and by choosing our friends carefully.
Do not be too hard on yourself when you see your flaws, God is still at work and you will love the final outcome when He is done.
I hear that engraved on the tombstone of Ruth Graham (the wife of late Evangelist Billy Graham) are these words:
“End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”
Shhhh. Do you hear the faint sound of hammering and sawing on the inside? Quiet. When God is finally finished, you will be like Jesus.