Transformed

Have you ever watched a TV show where they fix up houses? Like Fixer Upper? That show starts with Chip and Jo looking at houses with their clients. I love to look at the faces of the people that are buying the house. They see the sagging floor and the out of date kitchen and their eyes show trepidation and fear. To the Gaines, the house looks old and messy too, but they don’t mind. They aren’t looking at the walls and cabinets as much as they are the character of the home. They see the potential that it has to become something great.  Most people wouldn’t buy the homes the Gaines’ buy, or if they do, they might do a little cover-up work and leave it at that. They might  paint over the wallpaper or hang new cabinet doors, but most people don’t tear everything down to the bear bones and make something new, like Chip and Jo. They’re different. They don’t want to buy a house and make it just ok. They don’t even want to make it look good on the outside. They want to make that home the best home it can be. They want to change it from what it is to something brand new. They transform it. 

Romans 12:2 says “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” In that verse there are two verbs- conformed and transformed. Conformed means to pattern after or copy. Transformed means to change into another form. God’s attitude towards us is just like Chip and Joanna. He is a God who isn’t just looking for us to be ok or look good on the outside. That’s not enough for His creation. He wants us to be the very best we can be. In fact, this verse says it is His good will for us! 

Conformity only deals with the outside of something. It’s like Jell-O in a mold. You can pour Jell-O into a mold and it will conform to whatever shape you give it. It doesn’t change the Jell-O, just the shape. Conformity is an outside work. It deals with what you see. Someone who conforms to the world is patterning themselves after the world. Nothing is being renewed on the inside where it counts. Transformation is change that happens on the inside, in our character. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an episode of Fixer Upper where they don’t get to the studs of a house, knocking down a bunch of walls. They have to buy big expensive beams and do a lot of work but when they are all done, it shows. It’s a new house, a new creation that has taken the place of the old one and it is always so much better! This is what God wants to do for us- help us to make an internal transformation that will show on the outside too.

Does it mean that you have something wrong with you or that God doesn’t like you the way you are? Actually, you are just right for Jesus and He loves you unconditionally. But real love doesn’t stop there. His motive is to help you to be even better than you are now. He sees you and He loves you but He knows there is more for you than this! He believes in you! God said, don’t be like the world because He knows that the world doesn’t believe in you. The world doesn’t think you can do it. All the excuses- you’re too young, you’re too old, you’re too messed up, you’re too afraid, you’re a victim, you can’t help it...they are all things the world will tell you. They will say, you don’t have to work hard or build anything, you can’t help that you are weak, you can’t help that you are not enough. Someone, somewhere hurt you and it's not your fault. That may be one hundred percent true but do you want to live in the hurt and the unfair circumstances or do you want to rise above it? That victim mentality floods social media and is woven through so many ideals and agendas. I hate it. It makes me sick to think that a generation is being weakened at their core by this message. Conforming to the world is like fitting yourself into a mold of excuses and self-justification. Ultimately, you remain unchanged, still the same person with the same issues, trapped in your patterns, your life shaped by the lies and low opinion the world has of you. 

God’s message is transformative! He says to us that we can do all things, even impossible things. God believes in you! He wants to lift you up, elevate you into a new and better creature. Isn’t that refreshing? Isn’t that exciting? It doesn’t matter what the world thinks about you. It only matters what you think about you. That’s why God said to renew your mind. Get away from the false predictions and low expectations that the world has put over you. Whoever or whatever molded your thinking has to be replaced with the way God thinks and the words He has spoken about you. God’s word is so powerful. It’s like a power tool for our inside man. It tears down falsehoods like a chainsaw and tightens foundational truths into place like a screw gun. It can refresh you like a new coat of paint and comfort you like a brand new couch.

Did you ever notice that the last day before the big reveal on Fixer Upper, Joanna is still working? She is setting the table with beautiful place settings. Books are stacked with intentionality on the shelves and flowers are in their vases. Every detail of that house, from the unseen structural pillars deep inside the walls to the eye-catching wall-art and painstakingly picked paint colors are taken care of. This is just like our God. His perfect, complete picture of us is intentional, detailed, and beautiful. We are His fixer uppers, purchased and then able to be transformed into His masterpiece if we will believe!