Romans 12.

How awesome was last week?! Romans 12 is one of my favorite chapters and I encourage you to read it all. JP spoke on verses 1-2 & 1 Peter 1:13-16 (both below).

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer 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

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

While spending time reflecting on these verses I noticed that both talk about preparing/renewing our minds, and not doing what we used to do when we were "ignorant". Instead we should be “in view of God’s mercy”, and setting our hope FULLY on the grace we have been given in Jesus Christ.

I had a conversation with a friend one time about dating and was getting pretty defensive about how I thought dating should be. Eventually he said something, “So you’ve done it your way for years now, and how has that worked out for you?” I instantly thought of the Albert Einstein definition of insanity: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” You see in the past, not just with dating but in general, my focus was not on the Lord, my mind was on what I could do to achieve what I wanted. Once I changed my focus/thoughts/heart towards Christ I started to see this HUGE transformation in my life, and only by the grace of God. I encourage you spend time reading scripture, praying, and truly recognizing what Jesus did for you, for me, for us. When your focus, hope, trust, and faith is in Christ, you will be renewed...you will be transformed, and I promise it will be AWESOME!

"Be holy"

Praying for you all~

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