Stop Following a Culture That Doesn’t Follow God

In Romans 12:2 I read, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (NLT)

There are two verses in the Bible that are written by the same author but seem to send opposite messages:

1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them” (NIV). That’s pretty clear!

But John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world . . .” (NIV). Is there a contradiction here?

“The world” is used two ways in these verses. The first verse refers to the world’s value system, and the second refers to the world’s people. Followers of Jesus are to love people, no matter what choices they make. On the other hand, we should dislike the world’s value system, including things like status, selfishness, and sexual immorality.

The problem is that we often get it reversed. We love the value system and hate the people. Christians do this all the time. Instead of being different, we’re often just as materialistic and hedonistic as the culture we live in. But that’s backwards from how God calls us to live.

For the rest of your life, we'll face great pressure to conform to the culture. This was Israel’s biggest problem for thousands of years. They wanted to be like other nations. Yet God gave them all kinds of moral, civil, and ceremonial laws to make them different on purpose.

God has done the same for us. We don’t live under Old Testament Law, but God has told us exactly how we should live and how to get the wisdom and power to stand out in this world: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT).

One reason we may not know what God wants us to do in life is because we may be too assimilated to our culture. Often this happens without us realizing it. But we can’t think like the world and think like God thinks. We have to make a choice.

The problem with following culture is that it’s all temporary. We need to follow something that is eternal: God’s Word.

So, learn to fill your mind with God’s truth, and let it transform your life by changing what you love.

I am to not copy the behavior and customs of this world, which is selfish and corrupting. My refusal to conform must go even deeper than just behavior and customs, it must be firmly planted in values rooted in my mind. Only when the Holy Spirit renews, reeducates, and redirects my mind will I be truly transformed.