Written originally of our March 2026 church newsletter —
Pondering on Romans 12:2–
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
This is not just an inspirational, poetic & motivational statement. Rather it is Paul telling about the awesome biological provisions of God – how we are made, and how we change.
Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit is teaching us about something modern science calls “Neuroplasticity”. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize and rewire its neural connections, enabling it to adapt and function in ways that differ from its prior state. Look it up online … For our discussion let us consider this aspect: Your brain restructures neural pathways based on input (or lack of input, for example: the brain ‘learns’ to use other senses to compensate for loss of sight). Unused neural pathways disappear and new ones form (Think of stopping a bad habit, and replacing it with a desired behavior …After about 66 days the attachment to the bad habit fades, and the desired behavior becomes automatic … one starts to see changes in thinking about day 21.)
Consider how media today (news, social, etc.) trains our minds to “conform to the world”: Christians today, regardless of their alignment with ‘left’ or ‘right’ social ideology, are constantly bombarded by videos, pod casts, web sites, news feeds, alleged ‘news’ programs, tweets, songs, email, texts, and other media. What do they have in common? They use multiple pathways (cognitive reason, visual, audible, movement … ) to plant and reinforce information in our brains – That message is essentially the same, no matter the source, “Hooray for our side, we are so righteous, AND those who disagree are evil”. Is that some evil plot of the devil? Probably, but those acting for him are driven by power and money. We can be assured that most of the motivation for mankind breeding such hate is money – A ‘click’ or ‘like’ on social media generates revenue, a watched YouTube video, X post, Facebook reel, Instagram post, newspaper read online, or in print, generates revenue, the size of an audience on a TV program affects revenue. So, it is in the best interest of all these sources to capture our attention, hence the misleading and outrageous headlines. They are good at pulling us in to fuel outrage. They do it so well that our society is divided, and people live their lives in various states of anxiety and anger.
“Do not be conformed to this world …”, in Greek, basically says “Do NOT let the world compress you into a mold the world designed”
We fall for the trap much too often – We click on the video that reinforces our strong belief and demonizes those ‘others’. If we do it often enough, a couple of things happen – (1) our brain acknowledges the repeat activity, and our ‘feelings’ from the activity, and now we have a habit or obsession that triggers ‘reward’ responses in our brain, and (2) we are being ‘conformed’ to the world, others molding us in their image of perpetual anger and anxiety in their pursuit of revenue.
Paul tells us what to do, and it is NOT pray harder, try harder, strive for the goal, etc. … NO, it is “be transformed” … HOW? “… by the renewal of your mind.” WHY? “… that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Transformed: The Greek here is a form of the verb “metamorphoó” (grammatically, in Greek, Paul is using the verb in imperative mood, present tense; an ongoing command), in English metamorphosis: Like the caterpillar becoming a butterfly. The caterpillar is not destroyed, but the substance that “is” a caterpillar is “renewed” in the form of a butterfly. Renewing (anakainósis) & Discerning (dokimazo): In English the context of anakainósis is that of “completing the process that makes all things fresh and new”. In English the context of dokimazo is “to test something to show it is real, approved, acceptable, good or genuine”. I believe the Holy Spirit, though Paul, is telling us to use a process that Paul assumes Christians know: Continually keep your mind focused on Godly things, and that will rewire your brain to align with God, conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) to equip you to discern the will of God.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.Romans 8:29 (ESV)
Would Paul just leave us trying to figure out how to do this? Well NO! Read the verses that follow – Romans 12:3-8 (below). Look at the phrase ‘sober judgment’ in verse 3, in English the root words for that phase can literally mean “safe for what regulates life”. Essentially, we have “think in alignment with reality and truth”. Combined with the rest of verse 3, “… each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned”, we get something like “ … think in alignment with the reality and truth, as they are revealed by God as He deems fit for you …”. Going on to Verses 4-8 Paul gives examples of repetitive behaviors that that reinforce the neural pathways to align us with the mind of Christ: serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, being merciful & being cheerful. DO, REPEATEDLY those things which foster the rewiring of your neural pathways to align them with the mind of Christ: Neuroplasticity, a gift of God.
3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members,[a] and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,[b] with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Romans 12:3-8 (ESV)
Paul understood how to train our minds, it took science 2,000 years to ‘discover it’: Each and every repetitive sensory input can rewire our brain, affecting how we think. Paul reinforces his understanding in Philippians 4. Paul tells us to avoid being anxious (as many of us are today). Specifically, in Philippians 4:8-9 (below), Keep in mind, the word “think”, as used by Paul, is not a passive act, but rather to “reason to a logical conclusion” So, I’d suggest the process of pondering “what is true” to “a logical conclusion” would be an unending repetitive task: Just what is needed “… to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29)
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 (ESV)
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29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Romans 8:29 (ESV)
We live in tumultuous times, many of us are aware of false information presented to sway beliefs. Some of us feel called to provide others with ‘truth’ in such matters, and that is noble. Certainly, seek the truth for the good of others, but guard your hearts from entanglement in narratives that feed our sin nature – think on what is honorable, pure, commendable, and worthy of praise. For those are the things that rewire our brains to align with the mind of Christ. The world would entice us to embrace thought process that disconnect us from the source of life, Christ our Savior. An internal sense of anxiety, anger, hate, loss, and distrust are warning signs we need to get “rewired”. Wonderfully, that is actually a large portion of our mission on this earth; allowing the Holy Spirit to “rewire” our neural pathways to align with the very nature of Christ.
On a similar note: Look for signs in Paul’s writings for insight into how we process information, and may leverage our God designed neuroplasticity – For example: Romans 10:17 (below)— What might that tell us about Bible studies with fellow believers? Are the audible, visual, logical, motion, and other sensory pathway inputs that mold our thoughts multiplied by the participation with others?
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17 (ESV)
Just a thought about Paul use of transformed, but a different verb tense in Greek — See 2 Corinthians 3:18 below:
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[a] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.[b] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
Transformed in this verse is another form of the Greek “metamorphoó”, but this time the ‘indicative’ mood, ‘present’ tense, meaning is an assertion of certainty, NOW = we can be certain we are currently “being transformed into”. How? By focusing on Christ. When we loose focus on Christ, we halt the transformation. Basically, just ‘stuck’ in a chrysalis, no longer a caterpillar, but not yet the butterfly God designed: ‘Conformed’ to the state the world desires.