Paul continues by saying “Your love must be sincere....Love one another with the affection of brothers. Anticipate each other in showing respect.” (Rom 12:9-11) In another place he said: “Defer to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:21) And again, “Accept one another as Christ accepted you, for the glory of God.” (Rom 15:7) We know that such thoughts are not what we were instructed in school or have experienced in the work place.  We know that to take them seriously and actually to live them in our lives would bring ridicule and rejection from others. We may even be thought of to be “holier than thou”.   But it is the word and will of God for us as we seek the renewal of our minds in conformity to that of God’s. And to underline the importance of such admonition Paul says: “Do not grow slack but be fervent in spirt; he whom you serve is the Lord.” (Rom 12: 11) Do we need any further reason for our decision to so act according to the mind of God?

But what happens if we do experience opposition to our desire to no longer conform to this age but be transformed by the renewal of our minds? Paul says: “Bless your persecutors; bless and do not curse them.” (Rom 12: 14) Again, this is not the learned behavior we were taught, which was “Don’t let anyone get the best of you....Stand up for your rights....Don’t be a coward. If someone strikes you, hit them back....Defend yourself, no matter what it takes....Don’t let anyone take advantage of you.” (To be continued)