"Robe thyself therefore with the bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering... — bend the mind rather than bend to the world."
Here's the verse and what Paul is getting at:
Romans 12:2 (KJV)
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
What it means
Paul is contrasting two postures. The Greek word he uses for "conformed" (syschēmatizō) means to be pressed into a mold or to take on the outward pattern of something — the world around you has a default shape, and most people wear it without noticing: the endless chase for status, the approval of the crowd, the assumptions of the age. The call is to stop being passive clay in that mold.
"Transformed" is different. It's metamorphō, the same root as metamorphosis — a change from the inside out. Paul says the lever for that change is the renewing of your mind: not behavior alone (you can behave "well" while your thinking is still world-shaped), but a re-formed mind that produces a re-formed life.
The purpose clause is the part people often skip: "that ye may prove" — the Greek is dokimazein, to test, to discern, to validate by experience. A renewed mind, Paul says, becomes the instrument by which you actually recognize God's will as good, as pleasing, as complete. You stop guessing what God wants; you develop the perceptual ability to see it.
In Paul's larger argument
Romans 12 opens the practical section of the letter — everything from chapter 1 through 11 has been theology (sin, justification by faith, Israel's place, the mercy of God), and chapter 12 is where Paul begins saying "so now, here's how you live in response." Verse 1 sets it up: present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Verse 2 is the hinge: don't let the surrounding culture do your thinking for you; let your mind be rewired so the rest of the chapter's instructions (love without pretension, bless persecutors, rejoice with those who rejoice) becomes natural rather than forced.
Practical reading
The verse is widely cited in Christian spirituality — particularly in renewal and discipleship traditions — as the thesis verse for inner change rather than external conformity. Reformed and evangelical traditions often pair it with verses on Scripture renewing the mind (Psalm 119:11, Ephesians 4:23); Catholic and Orthodox traditions pair it with sacramental and prayer life as the channels of that renewal. Both readings overlap on the core claim: lasting change begins in the mind and works outward.