ON WORLDLY VS GODLY THINKING

THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

The purpose of Spirituality is to be able to access the Presence of the Godhead any time, any place, anywhere and under any circumstances. (Romans 8.) One of the clues to spiritual growth is that is cannot be taught, it must be caught. You cannot learn it, you must discover it. Spiritual growth is like osmosis. You hang around the bus stop long enough and the bus comes by. Spirituality is not based on getting away, but getting through. Some people think it is about going on retreats, centering prayer or walking the labyrinth. That is only practicing spirituality. Real spirituality is being able to stay in the Presence in spite of persecution, tribulation, or suffering. When we learn to stay in the Presence, nothing can separate us from the Presence of God’s Love. There are two way of thinking, but many ways to describe them. They can be called, the rational and the conscious, head and heart, graceful or legalistic, in or out, Godly or worldly, and so on. There is only one process, but many differing ways to present it. This series presents it in terms of Godly or worldly thinking.

St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is used to illustrate the principles of Godly thinking. The questions give a feel for the difference between Godly and worldly thinking.

ROMANS 3:18-21 & 28, RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTIFICATION:

"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift."

DO YOU TRY TO BE RIGHTEOUS TO BE JUSTIFIED OR DO YOU SEEK TO BE JUSTIFIED SO YOU CAN BE RIGHTEOUS?

Righteousness in a worldly definition is to be right, to follow the law. Justification means that we are able to prove we are right, and so we are justified.

When we think in a worldly way we attempt to be right, so we can be justified. It is a great feeling to be justified. It comes when others challenge us, and we prove them to be wrong, and us to be right. We get that great "AHA, I told you so" feeling.

THE PROBLEM: Being one hundred percent right all the time, never happens. There are two sides to every argument. It is difficult for us to see the truth in the other side, if we have to be always right, every time. In a life situation, trying to be righteous leads to legalism. We cannot do it, but we can feel better when others fail worse than we do. Much of the wrongs in Christianity are caused by people trying to follow the law better than others, so they can feel they are better than they are.

The truth is, no one can follow the law. The law was given, so we could know we are out of relationship with God. The problem is, following the law will not put us back. We cannot do it ourselves. It is only done through the grace of God.

GODLY THINKING: is to know being justified and righteous is not about us. We cannot do it. It is about God. He has done it.

Our thinking changes to being justified by God, so we can come into a righteous relationship with Him. We are justified, not because we are right, but because Jesus is right. He has told us, we are forgiven and loved while we were yet sinners. Because of this love, we become open to His Presence. We become righteous, that is have a right relationship with God.

This love justifies us. It means we can be loved, even if we have not been perfect. It makes us righteous, that is right in our relationship with God. It is about God’s ability to Love us, and our ability to be perfect.

Love is unseen and spiritual. It must be sensed from the heart, not the head. It requires a conscious switch from the head to the heart. Some will find this movement difficult, others easy. It all depends whether you can make the switch from thinking to consciousness. Your life depends on it.

This is something we need to know how to do. It comes from the inside, rather than outside. We must move from our head to our heart. This is done by experiencing being in the head. Just look at something around you. Move to the heart by sensing its presence. Now move again to focusing, not thinking, on the Presence of Jesus’ Love.

ROMANS 4:13-18, LAW AND FAITH:

"The promise to Abraham...did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

DO YOU THINK YOUR FAITH DEPENDS ON FOLLOWING THE LAW, OR DO YOU THINK FOLLOWING THE LAW DEPENDS ON YOUR FAITH?
ARGUMENT FOR THINKING YOUR FAITH DEPENDS ON FOLLOWING THE LAW: The best argument for thinking your faith depends on following the law can be found in the Epistle of James. James argues faith without works is dead. He writes: “Show me your works and I will see your faith”. If a person is hungry and you tell them: "I will pray for you", you are wasting your time. FEED THEM, he argues. It is the argument of many Christian today that you must follow the law if you are to have faith.

ARGUMENT FOR UNDERSTANDING, FOLLOWING THE LAW DEPENDS ON YOUR FAITH: St Paul argues that Abraham received God’s promise of His Presence without the Law. Abraham lived around 2000 B.C. Moses received the Law around 1200 B.C. There is an eight hundred year gap between following the law and being in the Presence. Jesus tells us that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are already in the Kingdom. What then do we do with the Law? John writes that the Law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Some will ask, what is wrong with the law? After all there are the Ten Commandments, the two Great Commandments, the Golden Rule. Even Jesus gave us a new commandment, "Love one another as I have loved you". What is wrong with the Law?
The answer is “nothing”. However, there are laws with a little "l" and the “Law" with a capital "L". The laws are godly, but the Law that John, Paul, and Jesus refer to is a way of thinking. It is thinking you must follow the laws to get into God’s Presence. Grace is the opposite. You get into the Presence to follow the laws. One is a "do" attitude the other a "be" attitude. One says "do to be" while the other says "be to do". Godly thinking realizes you get into the Presence to follow the law. Following the law depends on our faith, which leads to the Presence.

ROMANS 5:6-11, SIN AND RECONCILIATION:

"While we were yet sinners Christ died for us...while we were enemies we were reconciled"

DO YOU THINK YOU AVOID SIN TO BECOME RECONCILED, OR DO YOU BECOME RECONCILED TO AVOID SIN?

ARGUMENT FOR AVOIDING SIN TO BECOME RECONCILED: In a relationship, when one person breaks the trust of the other, hurt and anger follow. Many times the betrayer realizes his misdeed and wants be become reconciled. The betrayed one makes a deal, "If you promise you will not do it again I will forgive you." The betrayer then tries to avoid sin so that there can be reconciliation. The betrayed one is fearful about going through the pain and hurt again. They want to make sure the other will not do it again. Each constantly checks up on the other, having a difficult time trusting the other, sharing their love, or giving or receiving total forgiveness because of the fear. The betrayer does not feel he is totally trusted, loved, or forgiven.

ARGUMENT FOR BECOMING RECONCILED TO AVOID SIN: In worldly thinking, the betrayer is dependent upon the other for her sense of forgiveness, relief from guilt, and the feeling of being loved. The one betrayed is fearful of going through the agony of the past pain. He becomes dependent upon the betrayer for his feeling of well being as long as she does not do it again. They are depending on the wrong person for their reconciliation. Worldly thinking asks, “How can I forgive her, or how can I stop feeling guilty if he does not forgive me.

In Godly thinking, both persons depend upon the Presence within for their lives. They choose to let the Presence of God’s Peace, Joy, Love, and Wisdom determine their happiness, rather than the actions of the other person. The betrayed becomes reconciled with God. He regains the sense of God’s Peace, Love, and Joy, and the Wisdom that comes from being free of insecurity. If the other person does do it again, he knows that they have the tools and the power to get through the difficulty, and the wisdom to know how to handle it. The betrayer becomes reconciled with God to enjoy a sense of being Loved and at Peace, and she finds her Happiness in His Presence. If the other person is still checking on her, then it is no big deal. It is not about her. It is about the other person working through his own issues.

Both of them will avoid the sin of idolatry which comes from the sense of insecurity, because they are depending on someone other than God to give them what God has already given them.

ROMANS 5:15-19, THE FALL FROM GRACE:

"For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift brings justification"

DO YOU THINK YOU AVOID TRESPASSING TO ESCAPE JUDGMENT, OR DO YOU AVOID JUDGMENT TO ESCAPE TRESPASSING?

We think in a worldly way when we are out of the Presence and in a Godly way when in It. Worldly thinking has us avoid sin to escape judgment. Godly thinking would have us avoid judgment to escape sin.

ARGUMENT FOR AVOIDING TRESPASSING TO ESCAPE JUDGMENT: For many Christians this is the most persuasive argument. If you sin, you break the law and therefore your relationship with God. Thus, if you want to get back into the relationship you must follow the law. If you do not, then the consequences will be things like burning in Hell. You must avoid trespassing to escape the wrath of God. God is vengeful, filled with fire and brimstone. The Kingdom of Heaven becomes a carrot that is always in front of us. If we avoid trespassing, we will avoid the judgment of God and enter into His kingdom in the sweet by and bye.

I heard of a prophecy that told how we as little children were filled with mud and gunk and God in His love has clothed us with white glistening garments. And then it was added, "now don’t go out and get them all muddy again”. I thank God that I was not brought up in a legalistic community, but I have ministered to many who were. Their guilt and dread of God does not reflect what Jesus had in mind by setting captives free.

ARGUMENT FOR AVOIDING JUDGMENT TO ESCAPE TRESPASSING: Jesus tells us in the last few verses of John’s gospel, chapter nine, "For judgment I came into this world”. He did not say that He came into this world to judge, but rather that because of judgment, He had to come.

It is our judgment that Jesus is talking about. It comes from our knowledge of good and evil. Worldly thinking is our knowledge. It blames and shames both us and others. It is like Adam being ashamed of being naked and hiding for fear of God, and then blaming Eve for tempting him. She then blames the serpent, and so on it goes.

Jesus tells us rather plainly, "judge not lest you be judged”. We will be judged with the same judgment that we give to others. He tells us, "I did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save the world”. This is what St Paul means when he says, "for the judgment of one trespass brought condemnation. What causes trespassing and condemnation is our own judgment, not God’s. Paul tells us in Romans 8, "In Christ there is NO condemnation." When we are out of touch with Christ and thinking in a worldly way, we become condemned because of our judgment. When we are in His Presence and thinking in a godly way, we avoid judgment, and therefore we escape trespassing.

ROMANS 6:3-11, LIFE OR DEATH:

“You are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE LIVING TO DIE OR DYING TO LIVE?

ARGUMENT FOR LIVING TO DIE: In a worldly way which is a physical way, we are living to die. As one person put it to me, we are dying from the day we are born. As Christians we know that we face life, death, and resurrection.

ARGUMENT FOR DYING TO LIVE: With Godly thinking, which is spiritual, we are dieing to live. Christianity is the only religion that takes seriously the fact that we have two selves within us. There is the old self, which we have created with our minds. Our thoughts create our feelings, events do not. What actually happens to us is not as significant as how we perceive what happens. A cluster of feelings creates an experience. The sum total of all of our experiences create our old lives.

Within us is another life. St Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5:17 "in Christ we are a new creation." When we are experiencing the Peace, Love and Joy of the Lord we will see things differently than when we are out of the Presence and feeling insecure, unloved and unhappy. The inner feelings of God’s Presence are created by the Mind of God. I Corinthians 2:16 tells us "we have the Mind of Christ in us." In worldly thinking, we seek wisdom to find peace. In Godly thinking, we seek the Peace to find the Wisdom. In worldly thinking, our hearts feel what our heads think. In Godly thinking, our heads think what our hearts feel.

Jesus told us we must lose our old lives if we are to gain new life in the Kingdom. We must deny the old self , taking up the cross and following Him. We do this by going from the head to the heart and into the Presence within. We die to the old self now so that we can live in the new abundant Life which He promises.

ROMANS 7:21-8:6, FLESH AND SPIRIT:

“Those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the flesh. Those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the Spirit. To set your mind on the flesh brings death, but to set it on the Spirit brings life."

DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR HEART FEELS WHAT YOUR HEAD THINKS, OR YOUR HEAD THINKS WHAT YOUR HEART FEELS?

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING THAT YOUR HEART FEELS WHAT YOUR HEAD THINKS: To live according to the flesh is to depend on the physical world for our happiness. We set our minds on things that are seen. It is important to understand that thought creates feeling; it does not create events. What happens to us in our lives is determined by the way in which we are thinking. When we set our minds on the physical things surrounding us, then our minds create the feelings in our hearts. Our hearts then feel what our heads are thinking.

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING YOUR HEAD THINKS WHAT YOUR HEART FEELS: We have two distinct sets of feelings within us, external and internal feelings. The external feelings are created by our thinking. We set our minds on things of the flesh or on physical events that take place in our lives.

When we set our minds on things of the Spirit, we move from rational to conscious thought, from the head to the heart. It is from the heart that we can focus on the Presence within us. The feelings of the Presence, Joy, Love and Peace are created by thought, but not by our thoughts. They are beyond our understanding. They are created by the Mind of God. When we are in the Presence of God we see things differently than when we are out of the Presence and feeling insecure about what is happening around us.

ROMANS8:9-17:

"You are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit".

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE BECAUSE YOU DO WHAT YOU DO, OR DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO BECAUSE YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE?

ARGUMENT FOR DO WHAT YOU DO: Worldly thinking depends on the performance of the external world for its life. If we do well we feel good; if others affirm us, we feel loved; and if things go our way, we feel at ease. The problem is that when we do not do well, we will feel unhappy; when others criticize us, we will feel unloved; and if things do not go as we expect, we can feel frustrated. We become reactive because we think that we are who we are because we do what we do.

ARGUMENT FOR ARE WHO YOU ARE: Godly thinking depends upon God for one’s life by knowing how to access the Presence within. When we do well they feel happy; when others affirm us, they feel loved; and when things go well for us we feel at ease. Yet every time things do not go well, we do not have to feel unhappy. We have the Joy of the Lord which no one can take from us. If others criticize us, we do not have to feel unloved. We know that nothing can separate us from God’s Love. If things do not work out as we expect, we do not have to feel frustrated and stressed. We know that it is always possible to be in God’s Peace. We are proactive rather than reactive. We do what we do because we are who we are peaceful, loving, happy and wise.

ROMANS 8:18-25, REDEMPTION AND SALVATION:

"We wait for the redemption of our bodies, for in this hope we are saved".

Worldly thinking sees salvation as a condition and redemption as a position. We must get saved to be redeemed. Salvation is something that we do to receive redemption. Godly thinking sees redemption as a condition and salvation as a position. When we experience redemption by being in the Presence of the Love, Joy and Peace of the Spirit of Jesus which God has put into our hearts, we are in the position of salvation.

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING YOU GET SAVED TO BE REDEEMED: Worldly thinking makes us attempt to be saved in order to be redeemed. Salvation is about us and what we do. It is about the difference between a "what" and a "how". It asks “what do you have to do to be saved”? Or, “are you saved”? The problem is that it never ends. Once you do one thing to be saved, no matter how good it is, there is another thing that you must do, and then another, and then another. There are millions of litmus tests one needs to pass through. The kingdom of God becomes a carrot, just a few steps away but never close enough to grab. There is talk about the wrath of God, burning in hell, and fire and brimstone scenarios, if you do not do what needs to be done to be saved. At the end of life, salvation finally comes and you are redeemed. The point is this: you cannot act saved unless you are redeemed.

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING YOU GET REDEEMED TO BE SAVED: Redemption is how salvation happens. Redemption is about God and what He did and does. Redemption can never be something we do, it is about God and what He has already done. Godly thinking makes us realize we can never do enough to be saved. It is not about us, it is about God. Jesus Christ redeemed us two thousand years ago on the cross. We need to experience the meaning of redemption. Once that happens, we realize the meaning of salvation. No one can take it from us because it is Christ who has paid the price, not us.

ROMANS 8: 26- 34, PRAYER AND INTERCESSION:

"We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us."

DO YOU PRAY TO GET INTO THE PRESENCE OR DO YOU GET INTO THE PRESENCE TO PRAY?

ARGUMENT FOR PRAYING TO GET INTO THE PRESENCE: Worldly thinking looks to the mechanics of what we must do to get into the Presence. There is a difference between the mechanics and the dynamics of what we do. The mechanics are the "what" and the dynamics are the "how". If you do not know that there is a "what" and a "how", you will think the "what" is the "how". How can the "what" be a "how" when it is a "what" and not a "how"? If you do not know there is a "how" and you think the "what" is the "how" you do not know "what" or "how".

If a person does not know how to access the Presence, they will tell you, "here is how you do it." They will then tell you "what" you must do. They will say that you need to pray the Jesus prayer, or to practice the centering prayer, or to walk the labyrinth. Others will tell you to go to the mountains to be with God, or to the sea shore, or to go on a retreat, do Eastern meditations, and so forth. I have a friend who said, "I have heard all about the "how". How I get into the Presence is to take Communion. These are all "what’s", not a single "how".

We know that these "what’s’" do not work. You can pray prayers and not pray. Choirs can sing praise hymns and not praise. You can be stuffed with Eucharistic bread and still not be in communion. These practices of and by themselves do not get you into the Presence. They are the mechanics of doing something, but not the dynamics of accessing the Presence.

ARGUMENT FOR GETTING INTO THE PRESENCE TO PRAY: Godly thinking seeks to discover how the "what’s" work. There are millions of "what’s", but there is only one "how". The one dynamic behind all of the mechanics is one MUST move out of the head, get into the heart, and then to focus on the Presence within. If one does this dynamic, any "what" mechanic will work. If one does not do this, no "what" will EVER work. We need to get into the Presence in order to pray, get into the Presence before we take Communion, before we confess sins, recite the Creed, or pray the Lords Prayer. Try it. You will not only like it, you will discover "how".

ROMANS 8:35-39 SEPARATION AND LOVE:

Nothing "will be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

DO YOU THINK THAT THE IMPACT OF AN EVENT CAUSES SEPARATION FROM
GOD’S LOVE, OR DOES GOD’S LOVE CAUSE SEPARATION FROM THE IMPACT OF THE EVENT?

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING THE IMPACT OF THE EVENT CAUSES SEPARATION FROM GOD’S LOVE: Worldly thinking leads to the belief that an event creates a feeling. When we depend upon external things for our lives, rather than on the Presence of God within us, we are thinking in a worldly way. Worldly thinking asks, “how can I forgive; where was God when I needed Him; why did God permit this to happen; how can I stay in the Presence when all around me is going to hell?

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING GOD’S LOVE SEPARATES THE IMPACT OF THE EVENT: Some people still have a guilt feeling about something that they did in the past. They do not feel forgiven, even if they have received forgiveness. The problem is that they have tried to get reconciliation from the world, not from the Lord. No matter what we have done God, because He is a God of love, never lets anything separate us from Him. He is always there. We need to understand the consequences of our choices, but God is there to help get us through them.

Other people carry anger toward some past event or person long after it occurred. Harboring anger, pain and un-forgiveness towards someone has significant consequences. It is like taking cyanide and waiting for your enemy to die. We must recognize where the pain is coming from. It does not come from the event; it comes from the perspective of the event. The best thing that we can do to someone who we harbor a long-term anger towards is to apologize to them. Not for what they did to us, but rather for our blaming them for our pain. If we do this each time that we harbor anger, we will stop doing it because it is too embarrassing to continue apologizing for our mistakes.

In all relationship problems, there are always two answers. One is caused by our being out of the Presence, and the other is found when we are in It. Practicing being in the Presence is the key. Begin by asking yourself what difference it makes when you are in or are out the Presence, when you are thinking about some past issue that still haunts you. In the same manner, practice wondering what difference being in Gods Peace, Love and Joy would make when you think of someone who has offended you. When you discover the difference, you will have gained spiritual intelligence.

ROMANS 9:1-5, TRUTH AND REALITY

"I am speaking the truth in Christ."

DO YOU THINK TRUTH LEADS TO REALITY, OR DOES REALITY LEAD TO TRUTH?

In the physical world, truth leads to reality. We “see” things with our heads. Seeing is believing. We believe that something exists because we see it.

In the spiritual world, the reality or the experience of the unseen leads to the truth. Seeing is not believing in the spiritual world. Rather, believing or experiencing is “seeing”.

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING TRUTH LEADS TO REALITY: There are two realities that exist, the seen and the unseen. We have two faculties, the physical -- called the head -- and the spiritual -- called the heart. The head can see the seen and the heart can sense the unseen. We CANNOT sense the unseen with the head because it cannot be seen; it can only be sensed by the heart. Therefore, when the head looks at the unseen, it appears to see nothing. Yet the unseen is something.

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING REALITY LEADS TO TRUTH: In the Spiritual world, we cannot see the unseen. No one has seen Love, but we can feel it. We have not seen God, but we can sense His Presence. This is the difference between truth and reality. Truth is about theology and comes from the head; Reality is about experience and comes from the heart. Jesus spoke Hebrew. It was translated into Greek. The Greek word "alathea" translated by Greek scholars is "Truth". Hebrew scholars would translate it as "Reality". God is more than Truth; He is Reality. Translate the word "truth" as "reality" and see what difference it makes. Jesus said, "You shall know what is real, and what is real will set you free."

We cannot worship God from the physical head. We must move into the heart to focus on His Presence, because "God is Spirit." God is seeking "real worshipers to worship Him in reality and in Spirit."

ROMANS 11:33-36 KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF GOD

“O the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God."
DO YOU THINK OF GOD IN A WORLDLY WAY, OR DO YOU THINK OF THE WORLD IN A GODLY WAY?

Worldly thinking is theological and judicial. Godly thinking is experiential and practical.

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING OF GOD IN A WORLDLY WAY: Worldly thinking sees the seen. It depends upon seeing to believe. We believe Jesus is the Son of God because we believe in His miracles. We can understand His healing because we have seen or heard of physical healings. We begin to experience difficulty in believing when we hear of His changing water into wine, His walking on water, and His feeding five thousand with a few small fishes and a couple of loaves of bread. Things get more difficult when we have to believe in the lame walking, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, and the dumb speaking. It gets almost impossible when we have to deal with His raising of the dead, like when He stopped the funeral procession and raised the widow’s only son from death. The raising of Lazareth after three days in the tomb is even more difficult to accept. Then there is the matter of the virgin birth, His own resurrection on Easter day, and His appearances before the Apostles and others as he walked through doors and ate with them. We begin believing in a diminishing God. We use Him to explain the unknown. The more we know and the more we doubt, the less we believe about God.

ARGUMENT FOR THINKING OF THE WORLD IN A GODLY WAY: When we are in the Presence of God, we are thinking of the world in a Godly way. We believe in His miracles because we believe in God. St Paul, when he came before Herod asked, "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that do could raise the dead?" (Acts 26:8) If we believe God is "Almighty", that means God is all powerful. He never gets tired. It takes Him as much energy to create a snow flake as a universe. You might say, "well, He rested on the seventh day." He rested not because He was tired, but because He was finished with His work. Why would it seem incredible that the ALMIGHTY God could raise the dead, be born of a Virgin, be in Christ reconciling the world to Himself? You can only understand this kind of thinking when you are experiencing Him in His Presence.

Take this list of words and see how which ones make sense to you in your personal life from a theological perspective:

RIGHTEOUSNESS, JUSTIFICATION, FAITH, SIN, RECONCILIATION, JUDGEMENT, TRESPASS, OLD SELF, NEW SELF, FLESH, SPIRIT, REDEMPTION, SALVATION, PRAYER, ABSOLUTION, SEPARATION, FORGIVENESS, LOVE, REPENTANCE, ATONEMENT, LIFE, DEATH, CONFORMED, TRANSFORMED.

Now go over them again while thinking in a Godly way. See how many of them make sense to you in your personal life from a Godly, spiritual perspective. Say each word while understanding that spiritually they all mean the same thing, they mean "experiencing the Presence of God".

ROMANS 12:1-8, CONFORMITY OR TRANSFORMITY:

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind".

DO YOU GET CONFORMED TO BE TRANSFORMED, OR DO YOU GET TRANSFORMED TO BE
CONFORMED?

ARGUMENT FOR GET CONFORMED TO BE TRANSFORMED: Worldly thinking makes us attempt to conform to the world to become transformed. When things go well, we feel at ease. When we conform to others, we can please them and feel loved. We can also conform ourselves to be right and feel happy about ourselves.

The problem is that conformity is not the usual manner of things. We cannot control every event. When we lose control, we get frustrated, stressed out, and upset. There are some people who cannot be pleased. When they criticize and blame us, we feel unloved and hurt, and respond with anger at them or guilt at ourselves. No one can be right every time. When our happiness depends on whether we are right or wrong, we find ourselves struggling to be right all of the time. The problem is that ten "atta boys" or "atta girls" can be wrecked with one "you dummy". We find ourselves at least two "atta’s" behind. Conforming to the world for the sake of transformation results in a negative transformation.

ARGUMENT OR GETTING TRANSFORMED TO BE CONFORMED: The truth is that our perspective causes our feelings, the events do not. We need to realize that we do not have to feel hurt every time someone lets us down. It is possible for us to be in God’s Peace, even if others do disappoint us. It is also possible for others to be in God’s Peace, even if we let them down. It is not necessarily our fault. It is all about them and their perspective, not about us. We are transformed when we enter the Presence of God and we therefore become conformed to His will, not to that of others, or to our wills. We see things as God sees them, not as we or others see them. We are being transformed. Romans 12:2., and being transformed, we become formed in the Presence of Jesus, (Gal 4:19) Experience transformation by quoting Paul’s Hymn to Love from Corinthians 13:4 ff. In place of the word "Love" say "I am" .

If you deem it as a true experience of your self make it with a "Y" for yes or a "N" for no.
__ patient, __ kind, __ not envious, __ not boastful, __ not proud. _ not rude, __ not self seeking, __ not easily angered, __ not judgmental, __ not rejoicing in evil, __ rejoicing in truth. _ always protective of the poor, __ always trusting in God, __ always hoping in Him. __ always persevering, __ never failing in God’s eyes.

Now what difference would it make if you were in the Presence of Gods Love, Joy and Peace when saying this about yourself?
__ patient, __ kind, __ not envious, __ not boastful, __ not proud. _ not rude, __ not self seeking, __ not easily angered, __ not judgmental, __ not rejoicing in evil, __ rejoicing in truth, _ always protective of the poor, __ always trusting in God, __ always hoping in Him. __ always persevering, __ never failing in God’s eyes.

When you begin to have more "Y"’s in the second paragraph, you will understand by experiencing the meaning of Transformation.