I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Transformation means to change or morph into something completely different.  God explains its true meaning using examples as well as instructions in various places in the bible.  For example, consider how Paul was before he changed (Acts 9:1-2) in contrast to afterwards (Phi 1:1-4).  I suggest he also provides us with an illustration in nature, that is the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

Prior to turning into a butterfly, a caterpillar’s life consists of eating leaves, and they are often considered a pest.   Butterflies are different, they don’t harm plants, instead they perform a similar role to bees pollinating flowers.  In general, they are freer, more beautiful and improve the things around them as well as exhibit beauty in themselves.

So it is with us Christians. We have morphed (transformed).  The Bible describes us as new creatures with the old things having passed away (2 Cor 5:17).  The moment we accepted Christ as our Saviour we received a divine ability to see the wonder of God for our own benefit as well as those around us. This is something we could never do before.

It is interesting to note that a butterfly cannot return to being a caterpillar.  It has a new life and new purpose having taken on a new form. This is also true for us.  Importantly nothing can take this away from us – once saved, always saved!  God promises and guarantees it! (Tit 1:2)