Who Is Molding You?

*I wrote this and put it on facebook, hoping that campers from last summer will be stalking me and will read it, but I thought I would share it in the blog world as well.

Play-dough is one of the coolest substances. Seriously – you can mold it into one thing but very easily mash it up and change it into something else. And it’s a lot like our lives.

There are so many external forces pushing on us, trying to shape us, and a majority of the time we don’t even feel the pressure. The question is not if you are moldable or shapeable; the question is who or what is molding and shaping you.

Don’t roll your eyes, but I am going to go all Greek scholar on you. (That’s why I am taking the class, so that I can do this!) I was reading Romans 12 tonight, and verse two always catches my eye because it was one of our focuses this past summer at camp. It says, “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.” I decided to read it in Greek and try to figure out if the original language brought any insight this. into

The Greek word used for “conform” is συσχηματιζεσθε, and it is a present imperative passive form of the verb (broken down: present tense, imperative = a command, passive = action is being done to the subject; the subject is not doing the action but being affected). With the Greek word for “not” proceeding it, this indicates discontinuation of an action that is currently in progress – so Paul is not warning the Greeks against conforming to the world, but they are presently conforming and he is telling them to stop. Literally, this means “do not let yourselves be molded [by the world].”

And the Greek word used for “transform” is μεταμορφουσθε, also a present imperative passive. It refers to “being transformed in your inmost nature” – this is not simply an outward change. The same word is used in 2 Corinthians 3:18, which says, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformedinto his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” This same word was used two other times in the New Testament, but both of those are describing Christ’s transfiguration, which was Christ’s “glorified” state, which is an awesome parallel.

What does all of that mean, for me?
That something is shaping my life, whether it be my friends or the women I see in magazines or church ideals or who I think I want to be or the Scripture – quite possibly, it is a combination of many things – and this verse is commanding, not recommending, that I stop letting the world dictate who I am becoming. Instead, I need to completely change who I am inside, let God be the one molding me, so that I can find God’s will for my life.
The Bible often uses the image of a potter and clay to describe our relationship with God. It’s one of my favorite images (see Isaiah 29:16, Isaiah 64:8, Jeremiah 18:6) because it is a beautiful picture of God knowing his purpose and intent for our lives even when we are just a lump, not sure how God is going to use us or shape us.

So who or what is molding you? Daily, your situations and your friends and your problems are shaping you, but it’s your choice whether they affect you in a good way or in a bad way. You can choose to let God take those variables or you can let the world dictate what they do to you. Don’t just sit there inactive! Let God transform you, starting with what is going on inside of you! And don’t forget that, in the verse, this is a passive verb. You are not transforming yourself, but God is the one changing you.