Read: Romans 12:2

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.

Reflect:

A nurse practitioner friend once had several framed photos in her office taken from Apple’s Think Different advertising campaign. I remember images of Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Bob Dylan. The original television ad began with these words –

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes…

Nearly two thousand years ago, Paul challenged followers of Christ to live as nonconformists. In the first century, Christians dared to be different. Instead of going along with the culture of the day, they thought differently. They lived differently. And they turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6) – not by protests and violence, but through living honorable, compassionate, obedient lives and telling others about the Truth.

Respond:

We like to think we are the round pegs being forced into square holes, but how many of us willingly conform to what is expected of us? We may think “peer pressure” refers to the pressure to conform that young men and women experience in their teens.  But, if we’re honest we are all pressured to conform at one level or another well into adulthood.

Not conforming to expectations of others is more than what we say “no” to in our lives. We have the opportunity to say “yes” as well. Micah 6:8 provides us with a snapshot of what this kind of life looks like to others.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8b)

Start renewing your mind this day by thinking about what it means to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.

Who you were designed to be?