A Southern Pastor Daily Meditation: Being Transformed

Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.

Romans 12:2

So many times this text is used to point out the sins of others. After all, isn’t that what “patterns of this world” are, sins? What if that isn’t the point at all, but rather that each of us has been given a sacred path, and our command is to discern that path for ourselves, through the guidance of the divine, not bowing to the judgments of anyone or anything else. Renewing your mind through prayer and opening your heart to hear the will of God, allowing only that inner judgement, not conforming to what others tell you you should be, rather only focusing on what God tells you God will make of you.

What a beautiful world it would be if each of us focused on hearing God’s will for our own path instead of attempting to direct everyone else’s.

My prayer for you today is that you will be non conforming in your adherence to the path which only God can reveal to you. Pray will all your heart and allow God to illuminate your path. Have the wisdom to see it, the courage to take it, and the strength to follow it, against all the “patterns of the world.”

Many Blessings!

Melanie Tubbs is a professor, pastor, mother, Mimi, and true Arkansas woman. She lives with nine cats and one dog on a quiet hill in a rural county where she pastors a church and teaches history at the local university. Her slightly addictive personality comes out in shameful Netflix binges and a massive collection of books. Vegetarian cooking, reading mountains of books for her seminary classes, and crocheting for the churches prayer shawl ministry take up most of her free time, and sharing the love of Christ forms the direction of her life. May the Peace of Christ be with You.