Devotion:
For an audio version of this devotion, click here.
Read Romans 12:1-2.
This is a call to nonconformity, to living in accordance with the teachings of Christ instead of the ways of the world. This is not something we just decide to do through our human will and then go for it. Paul calls us to let Christ renew our minds and transform us.
Some years ago, I worked for a company that periodically brought in a psychologist who would interview us, give us all kinds of tests, and then recommend ways to improve our performance as leaders. In one of those sessions, the psychologist told me that I was way too altruistic in order to do well in my new position as head of project management. I was confused, because I thought altruism was a good thing, being unselfish, caring for the rights and welfare of others. Back at my office, I looked up the definition and confirmed my understanding of altruism. The psychologist was recommending that I act more aggressively and selfishly to get my way over that of others…in other words, that I “conform to the pattern of the world.” I decided two things: 1) that I needed to be more altruistic in the way I treated others, and 2) this guy was a quack!
Personal Worship Option:
Give some thought today on how and when you push back on the ways and expectations of the world when they are not the way of Christ. Pray for the courage to be different from the world, even if that causes some people in the world to see you as weird.
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