The first two verses of Romans chapter 12, are probably two of the most influential verses of the Christian community, but it is the second verse that I want to highlight here.

Do not conform 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.

That verse is loaded with so many things. Following Christ is all about going against the norm, doing the unexpected, taking risks, and witnessing the unimaginable. God calls His children to be separate, to be different. When you look up the word conform, you get some interesting definitions. Conforming is to accept, be similar, do what is expected, or comply with accepted standard. In this case, we should by no means accept the world’s standards or be similar to its thinking, or do what the world expects you to do. We should be the black sheep; it’s expected that a homosexual cannot be delivered; prove the world wrong. It’s common for people to have sex before marriage; beat the statistics. It is natural for people to live with a “every man for himself mentality” and only the strong survive; the greatest man that ever walked Earth was the greatest servant. It is expected for people to walk away from their marriage or children at the first sign of trouble; seek to fix what is broken. It’s the norm for people to think that alcohol, drugs, and pills are the way to fix or drown a problem; cast your cares on Him. Normalcy says that you can only be worth anything if you have money, a good stable job, and or a college degree; God has done so much more with people who had so much less. The world says you don’t need God; I am nothing without Him and I can do nothing apart from Him.

As a child of the Most High, we should stick out like a soar thumb, and even if no one were to ever hear you say the name Jesus, his influence over your life should scream from the mountain top by how you act, speak, and treat others.

The biggest world changers were and are those that do what is not normal or go against the grain. Lisa Bevere said it this way, “don’t conform or compromise to be included. If you’re just like ‘every one else’ your contribution is unnecessary.” Living a life of purpose means that you are not conforming to the way of the world, rather you are just living in it. By conforming, you seek to be accepted, and thus you do what is necessary to fit in. The danger is that when you fit in, you lose who God created you to be, and ultimately miss out on your destiny, because only your true self can do and handle all that is locked up in the Heavens waiting to be bestowed upon you. When you conform, you become a copy cat, and there is never a need for a copy cat, because copy cats are very easily replaceable, but once you choose not to conform or compromise, refusing to be just like “every one else,” the world will see that what you have to offer what one else can; there is only one you, past, present, or future. The world needs you not a clone of someone else; when you understand your identity in Christ and walk in the very essence of who you are, you will be an irreplaceable necessity to the world.

So, I encourage you to be you for a purpose, because it is you that the world needs, your beauty, your personality, you talents, your strengths, your gifts, your faith, your hope, your style, your thoughts, and your ideas. God took His time and created you perfectly just the way He wanted, and the moment we decide to embrace it, that’s when God can execute and multiply His greatness through us.

The world needs you, so be you and no one else.