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.
Romans 12:1-3

This piece of Godly advice has, unfortunately, become somewhat cliche in the Christian world, but what a profound idea it really is. How much do we really break away from what the world thinks? How transformed are we?

In the past twelve hours I have faced two very difficult mindsets that challenge how much my worldview is transformed by the nature of God. The first one being an American nationalistic philosophy that says the rest of the world be damned so long as America is able to stay on top of the economic pyramid. This person, who I am very close to, states unabashedly that what he cares about first and foremost is himself, all other things radiating out from there. Feeding into that is the quality of life he is able to enjoy as a product of the success of the American economic system. One very serious threat he identified to this was the work of a group of people who are collecting funds to help build playgrounds for impoverished Chinese children. To him, this contributes to the exportation of American jobs overeas and the increasing deficit in the balance of payments between our two nations. To him, the Chinese don't care about America, and would not do that kind of thing for us, therefore we have no business doing that for them. Furthermore, he states that it is actually best that the Chinese continue under a system of economic and social oppression, because if true capitalism were to reign, it would weaken the American system to the point of total collapse. As an American, he views it as advantage that the Chinese live under oppression.

Now, after working on that philosophy, I come to work this morning and hear the emotional story of how my coworker's live-in boyfriend of several years has packed his things and moved out of her house. She's angry and her two young children are confused. She has coddled to his every whine for years, and now doesn't understand why he is being so selfish. Adding to that, my other coworker's boyfriend, whom she has an openly sexually dependent relationship, decided to break up with her via text message.

God has revealed to us a whole new way of viewing humanity. He has revealed to us a motivation to actually love humanity. All of this in the middle of the fact that humanity certainly did nothing for him. This unusual love also revealed something very different in how we are to love each other. The whole point of everything God has done has been to protect us and cherish us. Is this how we go about our relationships with each other? When you say you love someone, is that out of the depth of your commitment to them and the overwhelming desire to protect and cherish them at all costs? Or are they a throwaway commodity that can be tossed because they aren't gratifying you anymore? Are those the people we are choosing to bind ourselves to? God says there is something much better.

I want to be transformed away from these philosophies of the world, because the nature of God does not match them at all. The main difference? Death to self.

...His good pleasing, and perfect will.

Awesome.