Poured into Christ

Rom 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.

When I was young, I remember my dad having several rubber molds into which plaster would be poured, and eventually hardened as they dried. They were little statuettes which could then be baked, glazed and painted.

Paul is talking about this very thing here in Romans 12:2. The world wants us poured into its mold where we will then be hardened to resemble it exactly. But he says that we should not be molded or conformed to it, but to Christ. As He pours Himself into us, and we pour ourselves back into Him, we begin to take on His image.

Instead of reflecting a worldly lifestyle of revenge, gossip, greed, gluttony, dishonesty, lust, strife, drunkenness, envy, pride, hatred, partying and idolatry, those who are conformed to our Lord look more and more like Him. They portray: love, forgiveness, righteous living, grace, joy, patience, peace and humility.

We are conformed, either to Christ or to the world, by how we spend our time, what we read, what we watch, what we think, who we hang out with, what we feed on, how we respond to temptation and adversity and how we are filled with the Spirit of God.

And so I ask you, are you being conformed to Christ or to the world?