Do Not Settle For Cosmetic Change: Be Transformed

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
 
None of us likes change, but we are forced to deal with it every day. The problem is we often settle for the easiest (cosmetic) changes.  I think back to my school days.  In every school there are groupings of kids—nerds, athletes, those who like to break the rules and those who are afraid of breaking them. I knew I did not fit into any one of these groups, still I knew how to expose my traits that fit and hide those that did not. I used “cosmetic makeup” to make me look better to those around me. I was a conformist. My guess is most of us are—at least we were.
 
Conforming to fit in is easy, but it doesn’t allow us to be us. When we conform to the ways of this world we experience (deep down inside) we feel an emptiness because we hide who we really are. This world is filled with people who wish others could know AND ACCEPT them for who they are.
 
So, who are you? As a Christian, one baptized into Jesus, you are a child of God. You are holy, you are loved and you are never alone. Jesus, who saved you, lives within you. What does this mean? It means you have been changed (on the inside) transformed.
 
You were dead, but now you are alive. You were guilty and shameful, but now you are holy. You were weak, but now you have the strength of Jesus. You once lived to survive, but now you live with purpose. You were a nobody, but now you are one of God’s dearly loved children. As Jesus has made you alive, let him daily transform you, making you the person he created you to be—the true YOU. It is a beautiful you! When we let Jesus shape and mold our lives—how we think, speak and act—the people around us will take notice. That is a good thing as they need Jesus too!
 
Stop trying to be somebody you are not—enjoy the person Jesus has made you to be and his daily  working in your life to make it better!
 
Dear Father, I place my life into your hands. As you have given me life in Jesus, shape and mold me to be the person you have created me to be. As I live the life you have given me, may those around me see Jesus in me. I do not want to conform to the ways of this world—keep transforming me to love and live like you. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.