Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The world has established this mold of what it says everyone should do, how everyone should act, the kinds of things we should pursue and desire from life.  And it tries to produce people who all think and act in these ways, perpetuating the lie that by following this pattern we will be happy and fulfilled or at least make our time on Earth worthwhile.  But let’s not squeeze ourselves into the mold of the world, trying to fit in and looking and acting like those who serve sin, but instead be changed into something completely different.

It’s almost like we’ve been brainwashed by the sin in us and around us to accept and approve of the ways of the world, to see those things as right and okay and proper.  So we need a whole new mind to see things the right way—God’s way.  We need to change our minds from one perspective to another.  We need to empty out the garbage that the world has filled our minds with and refill it with God’s Word, His truths.  We need to understand His will and His ways.

Instead of cramming ourselves into the world’s mold, let’s willingly place ourselves on the potter’s wheel and allow the Master to mold and shape us, to build us up in Him.  Let’s allow ourselves to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, to adopt His mind-set, emulate His obedience, treat people as unselfishly as He did, love the lost and dying sinners around us.  And when we start to think and act and react like Jesus did, we become someone completely new—God’s version of ourselves.

We all can appreciate a fresh start.  We like the promise of a new day and the clean slate of a new year.  But the truth is that in our Christian walk, we can be constantly renewed by God’s Spirit working in and through us.  We are free to pursue a life outside of the one that the world offers, the one that looks so appealing on the surface but is full of unrest and disappointment.  We don’t have to be shaped by the world’s ideas or philosophies because we have the living Word to guide us into truth and righteousness and ultimately a life of complete fulfillment in Christ.