Reading the Bible Will Transform Your Life

How Reading the Bible Transforms Your Life

Episode Overview:

In this message, Pastor Charlie Mitchell explores how the Bible is not just for reading—it’s for transformation. Using Romans 12:1-2 as the foundation, he unpacks how our habits, culture, and surroundings constantly shape us, often without us even realizing it. But through intentional engagement with Scripture, we can be formed into the image of Jesus and participate in God’s story of redemption.

Key Takeaways:

1. Your Lifestyle is Your Worship

• Romans 12:1 – Our everyday lives—our habits, conversations, and actions—reflect our response to God.

• Worship isn’t just about Sunday services; it’s about how we live daily.

• Just as powerful stories draw us in, the Bible calls us to step into God’s story and live it out.

2. The World is Shaping You—Whether You Realize It or Not

• Romans 12:2a – “Do not be conformed to this age.”

• The culture around us is constantly shaping our identity, beliefs, and behaviors.

• Our habits, communities, and environments form us, often making us unknowingly reflect the world instead of Jesus.

3. Reading the Bible is Counter-Formation

• The Bible actively pushes against the mold of the world, reshaping us into Jesus’ image.

• Luke 6:39-40 – “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”

• The goal isn’t just to read Scripture but to be shaped by it, just as Jesus was.

4. Transformation Requires Renewing Your Mind

• Romans 12:2b – “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

• True transformation is an ongoing process that involves changing our thoughts, desires, and behaviors.

• Reading the Bible isn’t just about gaining knowledge—it’s about changing who we are.

5. The Bible is the Primary Force of Transformation in Your Life

• Dallas Willard: “We come to the Scripture as part of our conscious strategy to cooperate with God for the full redemption of our life.”

• The Scriptures help us resist the cultural tide and allow God to reshape our identity and purpose.

• If we allow life to passively shape us, we’ll drift away from Jesus. Instead, we must intentionally immerse ourselves in the Word.

Practical Steps for Transformation:

1. Commit to a Daily Bible Reading Habit – Set a specific time each day to engage with Scripture.

2. Surround Yourself with People Who Point You to Jesus – Your community shapes you more than you realize.

3. Evaluate Your Habits – Are they forming you into the image of Christ or the world?

4. Be Intentional About Who and What Influences You – Social media, TV, and conversations all shape your thinking.

5. Pray for Transformation – Ask God to renew your mind and help you embody His Word in daily life.

Final Thoughts:

The will of God isn’t a mystery—it’s that we become more like Jesus. But we can’t discern God’s will if we aren’t submitted to His Word. The Bible is more than a book; it’s an invitation to transformation.

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Transcript

Charlie Mitchell: 0:00

I am so glad to be with you this morning. And, uh, I'm excited. That we're going to be looking at Romans chapter 12 verses one and two. These are by far some very well known, um, uh, verses of scripture that we're going to be looking at this morning. So I'm excited to dive, dive in. But by way of recap, I want to just say this. I'm really excited about this journey that we've been going on, um, through this series entitled read. And, uh, it's been, it's been huge because what my vision is, what my dream is, uh, for you and for myself is that we would continually be people that are shaped by the word of God, by the Bible, by the scriptures, that we wouldn't just see the Bible as, you this thing that we have to kind of navigate and deal with, and it's weird, and we just kind of kind of function through it. But man, we would, we would get a sense of the bigger story of the scriptures, that we would get a sense of who God is over the Ark of Scripture, that we wouldn't just Chop up the Bible. Um, and, and cause what we do a lot of times is we do it like, uh, the, the popular music down in Houston. Uh, we chop and screw the Bible. So what we do is we chop it up, chop it up, chop it up, chop it up, and then slow it way down. That way you never actually get the full message. feel for how to book, how these library of books, remember I said that he's library of books actually work together to tell one complete story. And so that's my, my dream for us because God is trying to show us something. He's trying to bring us into something. He's trying to remind us of something, but if we miss it because we got so caught up in these minor details and stories. You'll miss the overarching story. So that's why I'm trying to cast this vision of read. I want us to be people that love to read the word, that meditate on the word, that memorize the word, that, that, that, that teach it to our children, that study it, that share it with people, that encourage people from it. That we don't just abandon it, that we embrace it because it has something to say to us today. And over the last several weeks, we've looked at how, um, we read the Bible because we're followers of Jesus. If you're a follower of Jesus, you've already committed to submitting yourself to Jesus. Under the authority of J of scripture, because that's what Jesus did. Then we realized that these documents weren't given to us just as kind of legal documents, but they're documents of relationship that they brought us into something. Now we are committed to wrestling through it because we're in a relationship with the scriptures and with Jesus and with one another. And then last week, we saw that the Bible isn't just these fables and, uh, imaginations, but the, the Bible is actually, um, the real true story that the Bible is what brings us into reality. How to understand the world, how to understand ourselves and how to understand who God is and what he came to do. To do this week. It's a bit of a pivotal week before we get into the how's. Cause I haven't given you a lot of how's yet. I'm just trying to paint a picture. I'm just trying to cast some vision. I'm just, I'm hoping that you get my heart on this. I don't want you just to be well informed people. Well informed Christian Bible believing Christians. I want you to be people that are shaped by the Bible. And so today. It's a pivotal one. It's our last reason why we should read the Bible. And here's what I came to say today. We read the Bible to be transformed. We read the Bible to be transformed. Look at Romans chapter one, uh, Romans chapter 12, verse one and two, very, very popular scripture you probably heard before. Uh, here's what it says. Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is good, pleasing, and perfect. Will of God. I wanna slow down just a little bit'cause I love the way, uh, Eugene Peterson, uh, in the message how he phrased this, this, this passage of scripture and he just kind of makes the thing super plain in clear forest this morning. Here's how he interprets Romans chapter 12 verses one and two. So here's what I want you to know. God helping you take your every day. Ordinary life, you're sleeping, you're eating, you're going to work and walking around and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out, readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to his level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well formed maturity, and love. This is what we are looking to be. This is what I believe happens when you read the scriptures on a consistent, regular basis. When you make it a part of your regular pattern of life, you become transformed by it. You become transformed by it. Now let's look at this passage of scripture a little bit more deeply to see how this thing breaks down in our life. First thing I want you to pay attention to is what it, what, what, what Paul said in Romans, um, 12 one, uh, in view of the mercies of God, because God has been so good because Jesus has been so faithful because Jesus died, rose again and is ascended to the right hand of the Father. Father and has given his people all power and authority that comes through him. Because you've experienced the grace and mercy and kindness of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. First thing I want you to see, pay attention to me is your lifestyle is your worship. I'm gonna pause right there cause somebody needed to hear that. Your lifestyle is your worship. Now. A lot of us that grew up in churches where we praise, where we sing, where we do all kinds of stuff and we, and, um, and we got, there's a popular song out. We sang it here at Epiphany. Um, this is how I fight my battles. And we, we assume what we're thinking is I'm going to sing my way through life. Uh, if I just sing a song, if I just, uh, go to church, if I just do this certain thing, it's the key that unlocks the door to the hardship or issue that I'm dealing with. But I'm here to tell you that ain't real worship. That's a part of worship. That's an expression of worship, but that ain't the, the, the, the guts of worship, the guts of worship, your real, true worship. Uh, hands down, uncut reality of worship is your lifestyle. God helping you. God helping you take your everyday ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around and place it before God as an offering. See, uh, when we, when we talk about the scriptures and the Bible being this unified story of God with his people, and we are a part of that, a really good story, it pulls you into it and it makes you want to become a part of it. So that's why when you, you know, I don't like going to the movies with a lot of people. I don't like watching a lot of movies with a lot of people. I don't even want like watching movies with my kids half the time. And we do it every Friday night for family movie night. I don't like doing it because if it's a really good movie, if it's a really interesting story, what happens? You have to talk back to the screen. You gotta yell at the screen. You gotta interact with what's happening because it's drawing you in. It feels like you're a part of it. That's why when we see a scary movie or something like that and we tell the person, Run! Run girl! Get up! What you doing? All this kind of stuff. Why? The story has drawn you in to where you want to be a part of it. Many of us, if you've seen a little boy, uh, uh, um, walking around with, with Spider Man on his shirt or something like that, what happens? The story of Spider Man has become so enmeshed in that child's mind that they want to become like Spider Man, jumping off the walls and doing all kinds of crazy stunts, breaking stuff in your house. What happens to that little girl when she, when she watches Frozen or she sees a princess or something like that? She puts on the dress and begins to live out the story of being a beautiful princess walking through her kingdom. And so it is the same way for us. The Bible isn't a figment of our, of, of, of someone's imagination. It's not just a collection of fables. The Bible is, is the real true story of the world. And it calls you and it calls me as the reader to, to, to, to, especially if you're a follower of Jesus, it calls us to, to, to step into the story and participate in it. You can't just sit passively by and go, man, that's interesting. That's interesting. I learned my couple of things. I take this, I take that. No, it actually draws you into it. One theologian said that we, we, we, we should probably look at the scriptures, uh, like a, um, like a play, like a five part play. And, um, you know, Act one, the first part of the play, if we're looking at the totality of the Bible, it would be creation. Act two would be the fall. So when everything went wrong in Genesis chapter three, and then we're seeing that kind of unravel in the book of Genesis and all that. And then you got act three, which is Israel. And so if you're with us in our Bible reading plane, you, you, you probably were with us in Exodus this week and you saw how now this is gone from this slave nation to now they're in the wilderness and now God has given them laws and showing them how they're to govern themselves and how they're to walk in relationship with him. So now, for the, for the duration of the Old Testament, you're going to see how Israel walks through their relationship with God. Then act four is Jesus. You walk into Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and we're, we're confronted with the Messiah who has come to rescue and redeem his people. And then you get to act five, which is the church. This in this way of seeing the Bible, we are the people of Jesus. We, you and me, you sitting at the house or wherever you're at, if you are the people of Jesus, if you're a follower of Christ, you are the people of Jesus, and therefore, we are a part of Act 5. We're a part of the story. And so what do we get? When you look at the book of Acts and the Gospels, that's the beginning of our story. And then we got the book of Revelation, which is the end of the story. But in between those two is us. And we have a part to play in this story. You've got to improvise. You've got to show, you've got to display what it's like to live with God. So, if you're going to step into that story, you've got to embrace that role of carrying out the mind, and the will, and the storyline of God, because we know what the end is, and we know where we came from in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts, but now, where are we going to take the story? But just, but just like the people in the scriptures that we read about, And how messy it is and how complex it is and how disorienting it can be. Your lifestyle is the response to the story of God. Your lifestyle. I need you to get this. Your lifestyle is your response to the story of God in the Bible. What did I say? Your lifestyle is your worship. Not how many times you go to church, not how much information you know. I'm talking about your everyday, ordinary life. What did Paul say? In view of God's mercy, present your body, this, skin, bones, your job, your relationships, your household, present the physical things, the tangible things of your life, present them to God as your act of worship. So, if you're the modern day story of God, if the scriptures are being written, if the church of Baltimore is being written into the scriptures, what, what is the book saying about us? What is your lifestyle saying? And so let me back up a little bit. I'm not talking about what you feel. I'm not talking about what you know. I'm saying what do your conversations, what do your attitude, what do your actions, what does your, what does your everyday ordinary life say about the extraordinary power and life and vitality and of the holy God that we serve. This is hard for many of us. This is, this is a really hard word, not just for many of us to hear. It's a hard word for me to preach because my lifestyle doesn't always, most times doesn't align with my belief systems that I talk about. And that's why so many people are disillusioned with the church, walking away from the church because there's a bunch of quote unquote hypocrites in the church. Why? Because my, my What I say, I believe I don't do. So my lifestyle is saying something about God that ain't necessarily true and has given them the wrong impression of who God is. And so let me try to make it plain. When your car is out of alignment, it's hard to drive straight. When your back is out of alignment, it's hard to walk straight. So the same way, when your lifestyle is out of alignment with God, your worship is worthless. When your lifestyle is out of alignment with God, your worship is worthless. It's worthless. I didn't say it's trash. I just said it's worth less than probably what you expect it to be. The Bible, the Bible, the Bible is one of the tools then that brings your life into alignment with Jesus. Because if you're out of alignment, You need something that's going to bring you back into alignment. If you take your car to the, to the shop, the mechanic has got to get tools out, a wrench, some chalk, some measuring tape. He's got to get, he's got to put it up on the lift. What does he got to do? He's got to realign that thing. And the aligning tool is the scriptures. And so in other words, the Bible Here's what I need you to hear. The Bible shapes the people of God into the image of Jesus so that you can participate in the ongoing story of transformation in the world. So we want to be a part of the transformation narrative, the transformation story, the power of God coming to life in our city, in our family, in our home. But you've got to get in alignment with who he is and what he's trying to do. So, so I want to answer this. Why is it so doggone hard to stay in alignment with Jesus? Because I'm trying to, and I know where I'm supposed to be, but I keep drifting. Here's what Romans chapter 12 verse 2 has to show us. Why is it so hard? Why is it so hard, Pastor Charlie, to do what I want to do, but, but, but it just, I just keep drifting. I keep riding to the left, riding to the light. I keep going back to my old ways. What, what is it? Why do I keep doing that? Romans 12, two says it like this. Look, do not be conformed to this age. Okay, let me stop you right there. Second thing I want you to see in this text, you have been conformed to this age. You have been conformed to this age. Why is it so hard, Pastor Charlie? I keep trying. This church thing is so much. I just can't do it. I try to read my little Bible. I can't seem to get it. I mean, I'll be wanting to do it. I want to pray. I want to get up and pray. I don't know why I can't pray. I mean, I care, but I want to love these people, but they so hard headed, get on my nerves. They irked me. I can't stand them. Don't want to be around them. All of this kind of stuff. You say, I'm supposed to love these people, but man, I can't do that. Why is it so hard? You have been conformed to this age. Look at the text. Do not be conformed to this age. The problem is we've already been conformed to this age. I like the way Eugene Peterson put it. Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. And I think he put, he hit the nail on the head without even thinking we have become so well adjusted to our cultures. And what the Bible does is it feels like we're out of alignment when we live into the Bible. When really you're just so out of alignment, alignment feels out of ordinary, out of the ordinary. Look at what it says. I'mma, I'mma, I'mma try to break it down as clear as I can. Do not be conformed. Conformed means to be fashioned or shaped to one thing like another. In other words, in other words, you, you, you've been shaped. To be conformed is to take on the shape of a mold. When you pour water into a pitcher, the water takes on the shape of whatever container it's in. It don't matter the shape of the container. Whatever the shape of the container it is, That's what it's going to be. And so for many of us, we have been shaped by our culture in our room, in our family and all these different things. We have been deeply, deeply at every level shaped. The Bible says, don't be conformed, not conformed to what? This age or this era, and this era signifies a period of indefinite duration or time viewed in relation to what takes place in this period. So whatever marks this period of time, social media, political activism, uh, um, uh, narcissism, uh, hyper, uh, hyper, uh, uh, speed, um, uh, um, lack of commitment, um, secularism. All of that stuff that shapes us. Why is it so that when you talk to your parents or your grandparents, they seem like they're from another age or era. Why? Because they were, they were shaped by a different culture, time and place. And you have been shaped by this culture, time and place. Why is it so weird that when you talk to a kid that's 12 or 15 years old, they seem like they come from another planet because they've been shaped by this era. And so for many of us, we adopt the characteristics of a particular culture. period of time. You already have been conformed to this age. And that means that you fit the mold. Let that sink in for a second. You ever go to the family reunion? You ever go to the family reunion and somebody, your uncle, aunt, boy, you look just like your daddy. Girl, you look just like your mom. You act just like, and for many of us, when you were younger, you said, man, I'm not going to act like my mom and them. I'm not going to do what they do. I'm not going to act like that. I'm going to be different. And now that you've gotten a little bit older, I don't care if you're a teenager listening to this, if you're a child listening to this, mark my words, you might say all you want. I'm going to be different. I'm not going to act like them. They so corny. They don't know what they talking about. And then one day. You're going to look in the mirror and you're going to see a familiar face. It's going to be your mother or your father, for better or for worse. The words that are going to come out of your mouth are going to be the words that when you get put under pressure and stress, that are the words that are going to come that they deposited in you. You've already taken on the mold. So that's what I need you to know. That's what I need you to know. We are constantly being shaped. 24 7. 24 7, you being shaped. And so how, how, how are you, how are you being shaped? You're being shaped by three things primarily. You're being shaped by your habits, your community, and your environment. Let me go quick. Your habits. And I'm talking about, listen, I'm talking about the habits that you had that late night snack that you got to get every night before you go to bed. That's a habit that you had that you got to binge on Netflix to be able to go to sleep at night. That's a habit that you have. That little commute that you take to work that hour long commute there and back what you listen to. That's a habit that you have. That thing is shaping you. Those things are shaping you. The way you talk, the way, I mean, those things are shaping. You, the weekly place you go for lunch, playing with the kids, shopping online, whatever the habit may be, it is shaping you and do not underestimate the spiritual power of a habit to shape you. It is wiring you a certain way. We are little more. I need y'all to hear me. You are and I are little more than the cumulative, the cumulative effects of our daily habits. You add up all our daily habits, that's us. We have, we, what we do on a regular basis, we become, and many of us are blind to how powerful our habits are. So habits shape you. Your community shapes you. The people you live with, the people on your block, the people that you work with, your co workers, your friends, the church you go to or don't go to, all of these things shape you. Your mom and them, they shape you. They have already made an indelible mark on you. You are either going to live into the model they made for you, or you're going to react against the model they made for you, but either way, you've been molded by them. Your environment shapes you, the city you live in, the culture, the day, the age you were born. You are an 80s baby. You're a 70s baby. Uh, you're a 90s baby. It don't matter. Your environment shapes you. Whether you from the country, whether you from the city, whether you from the coast, whether you from the suburbs, whether you from the hood, whether you from wherever that all of that stuff. All of this stuff shapes you, all of this stuff has an influence on your character and who you actually are from the ground up. And I know you think, man, I'm an objective, autonomous person. Nothing don't get in here. But listen, you're a sponge. You're a sponge soaking up and squeezing out, soaking up and squeezing out. I influence and I'm influenced. I form and I'm formed. And I, and we live in a city. And we live in a time that specializes in shaping you. So you're already conformed to this age. That's why it's so hard for you to kind of live into the way of Jesus because you're conformed to another, to this age. Baltimore is a formation machine. Your phone is a formation machine. Your high school is a formation machine. Your college was a formation machine. Your job. is forming you. Your family is forming you. It's all forming you to be a very specific kind of person. And as soon as you open your eyes in the morning and you reach and grab that phone and begin to scroll, you are being shaped and your life is being molded into something specific. So let me step back. When you look at the scriptures, then the scriptures are the ones that are shaped, moving you away from this era and making you and molding you into what Jesus would look like in this era. Look at the text. Romans 12, 2 says it like this. Do not be conformed to this age, but be Transform. You've been molded. You fit the mold of a black girl, a black woman, a black man, white woman. Uh, you fit the mold. Do you fit the mold? You fit the mold of somebody that went to Towson. You fit the mold of somebody that grew up in Maryland. You fit the mold of a Floridian. You fit the mold. You fit the mold. All of us fit the mold. And as much as we want to be distinct and unique and all of that, most of, all of us fit the mold. Even in our uniqueness, we fit the mold of trying to be unique in our uniqueness. We fit the mold. You have been conformed to this age, but what the Bible does is what transforms you by the renewing of your mind. So the third and last point that I have to tell you is this, change your mind, change your life. And the Bible is here to help you change your mind so that your life may be transformed. The Bible transformed your mind so that your life may be transformed. So that your lifestyle then is actual, true and genuine worship. So what happens is it, it brings me into alignment with Jesus and I'm, and I'm set up with him. So now I know. Oh, this is how I'm supposed to roll. This is how Jesus wrote. This is how I'm supposed to live in this time. In this era. We don't live in the sixties. We don't live in the seventies. We don't live in the eighties. We live in 20, the, uh, the, the 2020s in America at this time. And Jesus wants to show you the full dynamic expression of what he looks like for right now. So change your mind. Change your life. What is it? So what is Paul doing? He's, he's comparing. Don't be conformed. Don't take on the shape of something. of this mode of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind to transform is to change into another form. There is where we get the word metamorphosis. It's a caterpillar that was this thing that crawls on the ground to a butterfly that flies around. It's a completely different thing. It no longer fits the mold. It's been transformed. And when we look at it in Romans 12 too, it, when he says to be transformed, the obligation is that you're going to undergo a complete change, which under the power of God, through the scriptures in the Holy Spirit will find expression in your character and your conduct. Your lifestyle changes because you have now submitted to the will and the ways of God because the word of God has now began to transform who you are from the inside out. And you're just not randomly being shaped. You are being transformed to look like, smell like, act like, vote like, argue like, fight like Jesus. So, so get this picture in your mind. If Jesus were living in 2021 and he had your parents grew up where you went to school where you live life and he had your skin on your hair texture, how would Jesus live? That's what he's working in you as you read the scripture. So this is a story that calls you and I, as readers, to participate, um, and to join in the story of healing the sick, doing justice, prophesying, miracles, faith, justice, enemy, love, all of those things that Jesus does, but for right here, right now. Not what they did, but what it looks like for us. We have to become like Jesus in the way we do that. One of the ways, one of the tools God uses is the scriptures. So when we read the Bible, we don't just read the Bible for information. We read it for formation. It forms us. So don't just chop it up and screw it up and then slow it down and then you just pick out little nice little pieces that you like. No, allow that thing to roll over you like a steamroller and flatten you out. Squeeze out all the stuff and then to rebuild you into who Christ is in you. Joel Green says it like this, Reading the scriptures should be an exercise on our submission to God. We don't read simply for information, but also for formation. We read so that the scriptures will shape us to be more like Christ. Spiritual formation is not measured by how much we know about the Bible or how often we read the Bible, but how we feel. Follow Jesus. The bottom line is don't matter how familiar you are with Jesus. If your lifestyle doesn't say so. So Jesus had a way of life. He had a lifestyle of transformation. And so if you want to be in relationship to him, the Bible is the tool to bring you into alignment with him. One of the things I think is so interesting about our age is so many Christians in our day, um, are so mean. When we look at Jesus, Jesus is rolling with people. He's with the meanest, the nastiest, the grimiest, the sinfulness, the whatever. He's with everybody and everybody is drawn to him. But right now, when you talk about I'm a Christian, there's all these assumptions that you're judgmental, that you're harsh, that you're mean. Now, some of that is the sinfulness of this world and we're counter to that. I'm with you. But some of it is just that we just mean judgmental people too. We just are because we haven't been shaped by the Bible because the main ones that saying that that are the meanest are the ones that say I'm a Bible believing Christian. It ain't enough for you to be a Bible believing Christian. I want you to be a Bible living Christian. I live this thing. And there's something distinct about my life because it to be a mean and vindictive Christian is to be a contradiction in terms. So you go on Facebook, you're going to see Christians and they going to be all over the place. And rarely do you get a hint of, is that what Jesus would be like today? I don't think so. So it's like, man, I want to come under the will of God in the word of God so that I become more like him. Not like what I think is politically expedient for me in this era. So don't pull up out your lifestyle from your beliefs. They were always supposed to be one. God is at work shaping a new community because we're in relationship. You become like those you're in relationship with your crew, your family, your friend, you become like them. Y'all dress them like talk alike. So when you get with the scriptures, all of a sudden you begin to, man, you act like just like them. Yeah. That's where I'm from. How do I know you from Baltimore? How you know I'm from Florida? How you know you went to this school or that school? How do I know what fraternity you, you joined or didn't join? How do I know where you come from when you was in the, from the country or something? Because you spent time with and you've been shaped by. In the same way we read the Bible to be transformed. more like Jesus. He is wanting to transform us so that, listen, right now you might not look at Jesus, might not see Jesus anywhere in you, but I'm saying the more you spend time with him, it's a funny thing you see on Tik TOK. It's a funny thing because, uh, now that you got all these kids that are going there on TikTok and they'll do this, um, my first day in Philadelphia, my first day in Baltimore, my first day in Florida, and they'll say, and they'll have the accent that they grew up with. But then by the 10th day or whatever it is, they talk like they use all the slang. They talk like they act like they dress like it's the same with descriptions. Why are we pushing you so hard to get in the Bible and just sit with it, sit with it, go through it, endure, persevere? Because I believe the more you spend time in that word, the more it begins to shape you and mold you into looking more like it. Here's the very last thing I'll say. For many of us, there's this mystical idea, how do I discover the will of God? Look at the end of verse 12, uh, uh, verse, verse 2. Do not be conformed to this aid, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may discern what is good, pleasing, and the perfect will of God. So many of you have questions about the will of God for your life. What does God want me to do? Should I take this job or take that job? Should I move to Delaware? Should I stay? Should I, uh, go this place or that place? Should I start a company or not start a company? Should I have more kids or not have more kids? Should I? These are all great questions you need to have wisdom about, but the will of God is not a secret. He just told us in verse two, what the will of God is. Listen, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So then you will know what the will of God is. What is the will of God? So that you'll become more like Jesus. Whether you have five kids or three kids, whether you take the job or don't take the job, whether you stay here or you go, I want you to look and smell and act more like Jesus tomorrow than you did today and whether the circumstance changes. That means if you get in a car accident tomorrow, whether you get a, get a cancer diagnosis, that means whether hell or high water, I want you to look more like Jesus. As a result. That's the will of God for your life. He's giving you a brain so that you can make a decision, make a decision. I love there's a book of mine that I love on the will of God called just do something. Some of y'all just sit around waiting for a crystal ball. Jesus didn't give us a crystal ball. He told us just become more like me in every circumstance that you go through. So some of you have taken these things, made them idols. Should I take this job? Should I go back to school? I don't know. Listen, go back to school. Whatever. Don't get more debt. So, see, now I'm messed up. Man, Pastor Sean, you said go back to school. Whatever the will of God is for your life, I want you to become more like Jesus. That's it. That's how you'll know how to discern what's good and the perfect thing to do. Because there ain't no perfect thing to do. The perfect thing to do is become more like Jesus. And how do you do that? You become transformed by the word and spirit of God. You cannot discern the will of God if you don't know, if you don't know and aren't submitted to the word of God. Some of y'all trying to figure out the will of God and don't know the word of God. That's backwards. You find out the word of God and then you'll discover what the will of God is for your life. And I've just removed the whole secret, become more like Jesus. So why do we read the Bible? We read it to become transformed. And what do we want to become transformed into? We want to become the image of Jesus with our skin on. Man, well can you imagine what a church would look like if the people just looked like Jesus all over the place? What a city would look like if they all just looked like Jesus? What's your skin on, with your background, with your kids, that would be amazing. That's why we read the Bible, so we could be transformed. Let me pray for you. Jesus, you are so good to us. And even though we have these pressures. Our phone, our city, our background, our culture, our scars, our pain, our trauma, our friends, our family, our loves and passions. We got all of these things that are pressing in on us to mold us into a specific kind of person. But you've given us the scriptures to be able to transform us. Jesus, I pray for everybody under the sound of my voice, that as they read the scriptures day in and day out, that their lifestyle Not their beliefs, their lifestyle will begin to look and smell more like you. Give them a new vision. Give them a new vision. Not one of the American dream and what they think success is, but as they read the scriptures, give them a new vision of what it really means to walk and look like you. like you. And that's their measurement of success. Lord, I pray that you would transform us by the renewing of our minds, change our mind, break our paradigms, shift our thinking, bring us back into alignment. It's uncomfortable for us because we're so out of alignment, but Lord, as we walk in alignment with you, I pray that we can walk upright, living a righteous life, showing off the goodness and glory of God everywhere we go. So Jesus show us that the will of God for us It's to look more like you in our everyday life. I pray all of this, bless the people under the sun, in my voice, in Jesus name, amen.